Culture Crash: A Return to T-Swift

By now, you’ve probably heard Taylor Swift’s album “Midnights.” If not, you’ve at least heard of it and its dominance on the chats – breaking Spotify records, selling the most albums of the year, the stats are very impressive.

But as someone who grew up listening to Taylor and who has listened incessantly to “Midnights” since its release, I want to highlight something that isn’t getting much play around the “Midnights” mania: Swift is one of the last of a dying breed of musicians who sees the album, not the song, as her main artistic measuring stick. One thing that has impressed about “Midnights,” similar to Folklore or 1989, is how sonically consistent the album is. Each song interacts with the song before and after it, telling a full story through its tracks and sequencing. Making a complete album is a lost art in this era of streaming music and quick-hit chart topping TikTok tunes, but not for Swift.

After a few decades dominated predominantly by albums that seem thrown together by record labels to get a product out the door, Swift making a 13-song concept album where every piece fits together truly feels – and sounds – like a revelation.

Taylor Swift started her career as a young trailblazer making her way into country music. Almost 20 years into her career, though, she’s become an institutional throwback to the days of album sales, vinyl records, and huge marketing pushes. She really is one of one, and “Midnights” is just the latest entry in her world domination. It also happens to be a near-perfect album.

“Midnights” is available now.