Taylor Swift has a new album due in October. Midnights, out October 21, is based on “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life,” according to a statement posted on Swift's Instagram. The album will be her 10th studio effort and the follow-up to 2020 lockdown albums Folklore and Evermore.
News of Midnights was first revealed by Swift as she picked up the Video of the Year award at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night. She was rewarded for her self-directed “All Too Well: The Short Film.”
“I know with every second of this moment that we wouldn’t have been able to make this short film if it weren’t for you, the fans,” Swift said during her acceptance speech. “Because I wouldn’t be able to re-record my albums if it weren’t for you. You embolden me to do that. I had sort of made up my mind that if you were going to be this generous and give us this, I thought it might be a fun moment to tell you that my brand new album comes out October 21. And I will tell you more at midnight.”
Come midnight and Swift revealed the Midnights artwork and shared the following statement:
"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 cages 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."
Earlier this year Swift gave the commencement speech for NYU students and also responded to a lawsuit alleging the lyrics for her song "Shake It Off" were a copy of SLW's "Playas Gon' Play."
