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Taylor Swift, “Midnight,” (Republic Records)
“My whole being has changed like midnight,” Taylor Swift Confess halfway through her latest album, Midnights. It’s a moment in the electronica “Midnight Rain,” where lyricist Swift is at her best, reminding you of her unparalleled ability to make any mood universal.
The song’s chorus begins: “He’s Sunshine, I’m Midnight Rain.” and continues: “He wants comfort, I want that pain. He wants a bride, and I’m making my own name. Chasing that fame. He stayed the same.” Then, that line: “My everything has changed like midnight.” Swift’s voice is experimental, with her own vocals artificially lowered to an almost unrecognizable pitch in the opening scene. . It’s one of the funniest pieces of music on the album, an indie-pop rhythm reminiscent of her producer Jack Antonoff’s work on Lorde’s “Melodrama,” but also fresh and captivating.
Written by Swift and Antonoff, the song’s lyrics are steady and detailed, but not distracting – immerse you in the rhythm and feel its flow and feel with her.
superior 13 tracks of “Midnight”, A self-aware Swift demonstrates her ability to evolve again. On her 10th original album, the 32-year-old pop star approaches the themes she grew up writing about — love, loss, childhood, fame — with a mature voice and lyrics that focus more on her inner life, rather than her inner life. outsiders.
“Midnight Rain” may be the thesis statement for a project she describes as a song written on “13 Sleepless Nights,” an appropriate approach to a concept album for those who have long had a lyrical appreciation for late night ( Think “style”: “Midnight, you pick me up, no headlights…”). Of course, her previous work revolves around themes – “Red” is an ode to color and the emotion it represents, and “Reputation” is a vengeful reconfiguration of her own work, most recently in “folklore” and “” evermore’ isolation albums, which express vulnerability in a way that only isolation can do.
But Swift presents “Midnight” as something different: a set of songs that don’t necessarily have to be put together, but because she’s declared them to be the product of late-night inspiration, they can. Locating listeners in context — on a quiet but thoughtful night — rather than thematically, feels like a songwriter so prolific that her albums have become synonymous with the pop culture zeitgeist. Natural creative experimentation.
What followed was a darker, more experimental tone that was always fully charged.
Track one, “Lavender Haze,” combines Antonoff’s deep club beats and high-pitched backing vocals with Swift’s punchy, beckoning melodies. ‘Maroon’ is the mature and weathered version of ‘Red’, digging deep into lost love with rich descriptions of rust, spilled wine, red lipstick – the picture Swift is recreating with more bites.
“Labyrinth” makes it clear that she’s taking her best pop experiments before — the synthesizers of “1989” and the softer alternative sounds of “Folklore” — which, as she admits, only a composer can make Heartbreak “just feels this raw right now, lost in the maze of my mind,” on top of a track featuring Bon Iver-esque electronic vibrato.
Swift shines when she’s able to combine her signature lyrical musings with this new electronic beat stage. While this isn’t another acoustic indie album that sounds like “folklore,” it’s clear Swift has taken a step in the indie pop genre — even if it’s a step in a different direction.
The weaker moments on the album are the ones that feel out of balance. “Bejeweled” is a little too sweet, and the lyrics feel like an update to “I!” that sparkles. The highly anticipated “Snow on the Beach,” starring Lana Del Rey, is poetic, beautiful, and at times cheeky, but not as deep as the lyricist’s combined power would suggest.
Even in those moments, “Midnight” finds Swift comfortable in her musical skin, revealing the strengths of a perceptive and evolving artist who can make her way through the always veiled insinuations of her very public life or The subtle self-possessing wink (see: “Anti-Hero” and “Mastermind”) interspersed in the lyrical confession can even lure casual listeners with a tantalizing, perhaps even surprising, beat.
But like a “lover” soaked in love, Intimate “folklore” Like “evermore,” “Midnights” feels both a confessional and a playground, crafted from every version of Taylor Swift we’ve known so far to make the new Taylor Swift shine. As always, we just rode on a thrilling late night ride.
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