Music Reviews

… more like MIDnights amirite? Alright now that we got that out of the way…

So yes, new Taylor is here – now to be fair this was always gonna flop a bit considering the insane ammount of hype build around this thing, like not even Taylor could live up to such high expectations. But honestly, after a few uninterupted listens… This things is just okay. Which after the amazing couple past couple of albums kinda hurts to say – it doesn’t mean the album is bad, it’s just that there isn’t honestly that much that stands out about it? Like okay now imagine this album wasn’t released by Taylor Swift and it was just some random girl singing – NOONE would care about this album. And you can’t really say that about the majority of her other releases because they are just that instantly good, but this album takes a bit of digesting and even after that you’re still kind of left hungry for something more fulfilling. Anyways let’s take this track by track like we do.

„Lavender Haze“ is the opener and honestly I was super scared when I saw that this song has the highest rating of all the songs on this album considering I wasn’t all that crazy about it. A lot of the elements that made Reputation such a mid album for Taylor are once again present here and that was like a major red flag for me right of the back. Fortunately the song did grew a bit even though I still don’t really see it – the thing about this album that sucks probably the most is just how overdone her narrative is at this point and she just doesn’t bring anything new to the table lyrically and also does it over some of the most dull instrumentation she’s been over in a while. So yeah, not of to a great start but as I said the song is a bit of a grow admittedly. Next up is „Maroon“ which sounds like 3 other different Taylor songs combined into one, it’s alright, continues the vibe pretty well, it’s just a bit empty you know. „Anti-Hero“ is a bit more like it – I really like the lyrics on this one and the instrumentation isn’t that bad either – it’s also one of the more memorable songs on here even though it’s still nothing mind-blowing. I really enjoy the next track „Snow On The Beach“ with Lana Del Rey even though I genuinely can’t tell when Lana comes in, they just sound so similar to each other on here and overall I did expect much more from a collab this huge, but as a song on its own it definetly is like a top 3 from this thing and it’s not even that crazy, but the imagery is just the most vivid here so far and I kinda like it. „You’re On Your Own, Kid“ is probably my favorite song on the album – it’s just the most memorable and sticks out the most, also the story is not that bad and the tune is just there. Kinda wish more of this album was like this, this is a really good one, but you can still hear that I’m kinda running out of things to say, because truth be told there just isn’t that much to talk about here. Next is „Midnight Rain“ and uhh… I mean, I’ll say one thing, I appriciate the experimentation on this track and overall it’s more memorable then some other tracks even though mostly for the wrong reasons. The production choices on this one are really bizarre and by this point in the album I started to notice that this whole album just sounds like it’s burried under a pile of snow and I’m not sure how I feel about that. Now with this song I still at least enjoy it to some extent but the next song „Question…?“ i just found to be super melodramatic and just boring to be honest, like the lyrics make me physically cringe and it’s probably the most shining example of this album just being so redundant lyrically. Now I’ve heard some big talk about „Vigilante Shit“ being like the worst thing that ever happened but honestly? I’m just so glad that she switched it up SOMEHOW so I don’t even care – the song is fine even though sure, it’s edgy and a Billie Eilish rip-off, who cares, at least it keeps it fresh. The next song „Bejeweled“ just sort of exists, the synths are kind of annoying, but I like the chorus well enough so it balances out i guess, NEEEXT. „Labyrinth“ is honestly pretty alright, it’s very lowkey like the rest of this album, but with this one I feel it more for some reason, it just feels much more genuine and heartfelt. Next up we have „Karma“ which I’m really split on – instrumentally it’s one of the most adventerous and intresting songs on the whole album, but the song doesn’t have that much going for it besides that. The chorus is just alright, it’s alright, everything is just alright. I’m getting bored just writing about this, let’s just wrap this up… „Sweet Nothing“ is like the perfect two-word description of not only the song but basically the entire album and that’s all I have to say about that. And finally the closer „Mastermind“ is… What’s the word again?… Oh right… ALRIGHT. IT JUST EXISTS. I FEEL NOTHING DURING THIS. IEOIAHJOJHOFJAEOIjf

… well that was weird ANYWAYS yeah the album itself is super fricking boring. Like after it stopped playing spotify automatically started playing „Style“ and I immidiately thought to myself „wow, not a single song on here is half as fun nor memorable nor impactful as this song is“ and I think I’m just gonna leave it with that. There are some small highlights but honestly through and through this is just kind of a disapointment if I’m being honest.

-favorite tracks: Snow On The Beach; You’re On Your Own, Kid; Labyrinth; Karma; Anti-Hero

-least favorite tracks: Question…?; Bejeweled

Light 6/10