Ever since Taylor Swift announced a new album at the 2022 VMAs in August, fans have been scouring the internet for Easter eggs, ravenous for any detail about the mysteriously-named Midnights.
Here's everything you need to know about Midnights as well as what to look our for when the album drops on October 21.
Midnights is going to be an event
As if Taylor Swift's first new music drop in two years was going to be anything other than dramatic.
The singer-songwriter teased a whole WEEK of activations and releases beginning the day before Midnights comes out.
Bundled into a magical Instagram Reel, the schedule for the week of release includes two music video releases (Anti-Hero and a mystery song), two talk show appearances and a "special chaotic surprise" for 3am US time (6pm AEDT) on album-release day.
That surprise was just revealed - a whole other Midnights album called the 3am Edition featuring seven bonus tracks in addition to the original 13.
We also know now that Midnights will have multiple music videos thanks to a trailer drop by Swift, leading fans to believe that it could be a visual album.
Is Lana Del Ray going to make a cameo?
Yes!
It was no surprise when Swift's friend and frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff appeared in a The Making of Midnights video on her Instagram.
However, one of her latest posts about Snow On The Beach, revealed a significant cameo by Lana Del Rey.
"Lana Del Rey, in my opinion, is one of the best musical artists ever," Swift says to the camera.
"The song is about falling in love with someone at the same time they're falling in love with you … when you realise that someone feels the same way that you feel at the same moment."
The pairing of Del Rey's soulful voice and Swift's delicate lyricism is likely to blow all our minds upon listening.
What's on the track list?
It took a while but we have a full track list for Midnights. Since September, Taylor has been teasing fans with track names through her Midnights Mayhem With Me TikTok series.
But now fans have the full track list:
1. Lavender Haze
2. Maroon
3. Anti-Hero
4. Snow on the Beach ft Lana Del Rey
5. You're on Your Own, Kid
6. Midnight Rain
7. Question…?
8. Vigilante Shit
9. "Bejeweled"
10. Labyrinth
11. Karma
12. Sweet Nothing
13. Mastermind
Soon after the full track list was announced, Target US announced three bonus tracks: Hit's Different, You're On Your Own, Kid and a piano remix of Sweet Nothing.
The drip feed of track names hasn't been without its surprises. On October 6, Swift announced the title of track 11, Karma.
Swifties around the world collectively gasped.
She captioned the video "been excited to announce this one" — and bursts into laughter immediately after announcing it.
In a classic Swift move, she threw a very casual deep-cut nod to a lingering fan theory about an album that was meant to be released in 2016 — that's because Swift had released a new album every two years since 2006 up until then.
The album was also rumoured to be a full exploration of her feud with Kanye.
Instead, she broke tradition and launched her Reputation era in 2017.
Will 'William Bowery' make an appearance?
Actor Joe Alwyn — and Swift's partner of six years — co-wrote a handful of songs on her recent albums: Folklore and Evermore.
"Joe plays piano beautifully and he's always just playing and making things up and kind of creating things," Swift revealed in a documentary.
He was credited as William Bowery, the name of his great-grandfather.
Swift says Exile emerged as Alwyn was "messing around on the piano", while Betty came from him "singing around the house".
According to the credits released on Apple Music this week, William Bowery is listed as a co-writer on Sweet Nothing and there is at least one song about him.
And for those not already familiar with Toë (pronounced Toe-ey), lore, another surprise collaborator who pops up in the credits for Lavender Haze is Zoë Kravitz.
Swift and Kravitz have been friends for years and even spent time quarantining together in 2020 — including that one time when Swift assisted Kravitz with a photoshoot over Zoom for The New York Times Magazine.
While Kravitz is probably better known for her acting credits, she’s a solo artist, one half of the electro pop duo LOLAWOLF, and — like Swift — also a frequent collaborator with Jack Antonoff.
In a video on Instagram, Swift talks about the meaning behind Lavender Haze.
She came across the phrase while watching Mad Men — presumably with Alwyn — and discovered it was a commonly used in the 50s to mean "you were in that all-encompassing love glow".
The song is about not letting anything, or anyone, bring you down from the glorious high of the haze.
"If the world finds out that you're in love with somebody, they're going to weigh in on it," she explains.
"Like my relationship of six years — we've had to dodge weird rumours, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it.
"Weird rumours" may be a nod to another fan theory known as "Gaylor".
That is, Swift is gay or bisexual, and her relationship with Alwyn is a façade.
Haters gonna hate
The re-release of All Too Well reminded the world of Taylor's unmatched way with words.
No one else could write — and deliver — these heart-wrenching lines as well as Swift:
"And you call me up again, just to break me like a promise
So casually cruel in the name of being honest
I'm a crumpled up piece of paper, lying here
'Cause I remember it all, all, all too well"
Typically, it's track five that is the devastating hit on Swift's albums — All Too Well (of course), Dear John and Delicate fit the pattern.
Although, Anti-Hero, which is track 3 on Midnights, may be a contender.
"I really don't think I've delved this far into my insecurities in this detail before," Swift says about the song.
Deflecting with self-deprecating humour, she tells us that we shouldn't feel bad for her.
"This song is a real, guided tour through all the things I tend to hate about myself."
What will the next (Taylor's Version) reissue be?
All signs point to a re-release of Swift's first all-pop album, 1989, being the next release in Taylor's back catalogue reissues.
If you haven't been following along with Swift's fight to own her music, she announced in August 2019 that she would re-record her first six studio albums in order to own the masters herself.
In September 2021, she released Taylor's version of Wildest Dreams, which was used in the trailer for an animated movie, Spirit Untamed.
Then, in May 2022, she released Taylor's version of This Love, which features in an Amazon Prime series, The Summer I Turned Pretty.
However, for now, it's time to apply some dark eyeliner and blue eye shadow, flick open a lighter and await the release of Midnights on October 21.
