Taylor Swift borrowed a few seconds of her MTV VMAs speech for Video of the Year to drop a bombshell: Her 10th album, Midnights, is coming in two months, on Oct. 21. Addressing her fans, she said, “I had sort of made up my mind that if you were going to be this generous and give us this,” referencing the Video of the Year award, “I thought it might be a fun moment to tell you that my brand-new album comes out October 21st. And I will tell you more at midnight.” Shortly after, she changed her social media bios to read “meet me at midnight,” to build hype for the unrolling. The phrase soon sprouted up as a trending hashtag on Twitter.
When 12 a.m. rolled around, Swift gave ample detail on what to expect with her 10th studio album—and revealed the album art.
Ahead, everything we know about the project.
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When does the album come out?
Swift revealed the release date before anything else at the MTV VMAs: Friday, Oct. 21, 2022. It will be a midnight release like her previous other works, especially given its namesake. Fans pointed out that Oct, 21, 2022 is coincidentally Kim Kardashian’s birthday. But more telling is what the digitals add up to: 10 + 2 + 1 = 13, Swift’s beloved and common Easter egg number and the number of tracks on Midnights.
Swift provided a more detailed breakdown of the album’s release schedule on Monday, October 17 at midnight.
- Thursday, October 20: Teaser trailer during the third quarter of Thursday night football on Prime Video. Swift didn’t specify whether this teaser trailer was for the full album or the “Anti-Hero” music video out on October 21 at 8 A.M. EST.
- Friday, October 21, 12 AM EST: Midnights album release
- October 21, 3 A.M. EST: “Special very chaotic surprise”
- October 21, 8 A.M. EST: “Anti-Hero” music video premiere
- October 21, 8 P.M. EST: Lyric videos for album
- Tuesday, October 25, 12 A.M. EST: Second Midnights music video release. Fans theorized the song is “Vigilante Shit” because it and “Anti-Hero” are the only two tracks Swift held her phone upside during her track name reveal videos.
Is this album another re-recording?
No, Swift’s Oct. 21 album will be a new original work. During the Midnights announcement, Swift did not address when she would release her re-recordings of 1989 and Reputation.
What songs are on the album? Which will be singles?
Swift didn’t initially share a track list, only that the album will feature a total of 13 new songs. During her midnight album announcement, she gave a little detail about what they’ll be about: “Midnights, the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life, will be out October 21. Meet me at midnight.” She has not announced her first single yet.
Over time, Swift released more of the track names and ultimately the full track list.
- Lavender Haze
- Maroon
- Anti-Hero
- Snow on the Beach
- You’re on Your Own, Kid
- Midnight Rain
- Question…?
- Vigilante Shit
- Bejeweled
- Labyrinth
- Karma
- Sweet Nothing
- Mastermind
She’ll be releasing three bonus tracks with the Target edition of her album, which is available for pre-order now. The songs included are new track “Hits Different,” a string remix of “You’re on Your Own, Kid,” and a piano remix of “Sweet Nothing.”
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You can order the Target version below:
Shop all Universal Music Group Taylor Swift – Midnights: Lavender Edition (Target Exclusive)
Shop all Universal Music Group Taylor Swift – Midnights: Lavender Edition (Target Exclusive)
What is the album about? Are the songs based on Swift’s life?
When Swift announced the project, she explained the premise and theme for her work. She wrote:
We lie awake in love and in fear, in turmoil and in tears. We stare at walls and drink until they speak back. We twist in our self-made ages and pray that we aren’t—right this minute—about to make some fateful life-altering mistake.
This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams. The floors we pace and the demons we face. For all of us who have tossed and turned and decided to keep the lanterns lit and go searching—hoping that just maybe, when the clock strikes twelve … we’ll meet ourselves.
Midnights, the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life, will be out October 21. Meet me at midnight.
Swift has spoken a little about what particular songs are about and revealed the first track, “Lavender Haze,” would address her six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn.
“Lavender Haze is track 1 on Midnights,” she said. “I happened upon the phrase ‘lavender haze’ when I was watching Mad Men. I looked it up because I thought it sounded cool. And it turns out that it’s a common phrase used in the ’50s where they would describe being in love. If you in the ‘lavender haze,’ then that meant you were in that all-encompassing love glow. And I thought that was really beautiful.”
“I guess, theoretically, when you’re in the ‘lavender haze,’ you’ll do anything to stay there,” she continued. “And not let people bring you down off of that cloud. I think that a lot of people have to deal with this now, not just like ‘public figures,’ because we live in the era of social media, and if the world finds out if you’re in love with somebody they’re going to weigh in on it. Like my relationship for six years we’ve had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it. So this song is about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff.”
Ahead of the album’s release, Swift revealed five themes that inspired Midnights on Spotify.
On Monday, October 17, Swift shared the first: “The first thing that kept me up at night that helped inspired the Midnights album is self-loathing.”
Will Swift go on tour for this album?
Swift hasn’t announced any tour dates yet. Her last announcement regarding touring was in February 2021, referencing her canceled Lover Fest tour dates and explaining why she had no plans to reschedule them. She wrote then:
I love coming on here to tell you good news, or to share a new project with you. It’s not my favorite thing in the world to have to tell you news I’m sad about. I’m so sorry, but I cannot reschedule the shows that we’ve postponed. Although refunds have been available since we first postponed the Lover Fest shows, many of you hung onto your tickets and I too hung onto the the idea that we could reschedule.
This is an unprecedented pandemic that has changed everyone’s plans and no one knows what the touring landscape is going to look like in the near future. I’m so disappointed that I won’t be able to see you in person as soon as I wanted to. I miss you terribly and can’t wait ’til we can all safely be at shows together again. – Taylor Swift
But on September 30, 2022, a source told Page Six that she is definitely planning something soon, a “massive stadium tour” for the summer of 2023.
“Taylor has some really ambitious plans in place,” said one insider. “She’s excited to get back on the road after such a long but fruitful break.”
There were rumors circulating all through the month that Swift might be performing at the next Super Bowl Halftime show. The event is usually sponsored by Pepsi and Swift has an ongoing deal with Coca-Cola, but this year Apple took over opening the way for a possible Swift performance. TMZ reported that she turned the offer down because she doesn’t want to perform until her older albums have been rerecorded. She still has Taylor Swift, Speak Now, 1989, and Reputation to go. Will she actually finish them all by next summer? If anyone can, it’s Taylor Swift.
Are pre-orders available? What about merchandise?
You wouldn’t expect Taylor Swift to be caught unprepared, would you? Of course pre-orders are available—and there’s merch! Fans can purchase Midnights in vinyl, CD, or cassette, in addition to the standard digital version. Both the vinyl and CD sets come with unique artwork/photography and a collectible booklet. There’s no answer to the folklore cardigan available on TaylorSwift.com just yet…but we’ll be sure to let you know as soon as one drops.
Are there multiple album covers for Midnights?
Absolutely. Swift ended August to sharing three special edition covers in addition to Midnights‘ main cover. “August may have slipped away but September brings 3 new special edition covers!” Swift wrote. “Pre-order Midnights collectible cd versions and unique color vinyl versions now … ️”
Here, a closer look at all the variants: Jade Green, Blood Moon, and Mahogany:
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Has Swift offered any previews of Midnights?
On Friday, September 16, Swift posted a TikTok she captioned: “The making of Midnights.” The montage gave a bunch of hints to fans about the album’s production. The clips in the video include shots of Swift at the keyboard, recording vocals, and spending some quality time with her cat Benjamin and wandering through a snow storm.
But the clips also reveal a glimpse of producer Jack Antonoff, seemingly confirming that he is again serving as producer on Swift’s album. Variety reports that the TikTok includes a shot of Antonoff’s studio.
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In another recent TikTok, Swift explained to fans that there are four different album covers for Midnight, and when they are put together they form a clock to “help you tell time.”
Then on September 21, Swift posted yet another TikTok from a series called “Midnights Mayhem With Me,” revealing track listing one by one. The first track revealed was Track 13 and titled “Mastermind.”
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She chose to reveal that track name with a Bingo cage, each one printed with a difference song title. Swift has been posting the series one day at a time. Other names revealed so far are “Track 2 Maroon,” “Track 6 Midnight Rain,” “Track 7 Question…?,’ and “Track 8 Vigilante Shit.”
On Monday, October 17 at midnight, Spotify revealed the first lyric from the album in Times Square, New York City: “I should not be left to my own devices.” More will be revealed in the days leading up to Midnights‘ release.
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.
Lauren Puckett-Pope is an associate editor at ELLE, where she covers film, TV, books and fashion.
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