Mayhem by the Mastermind

Taylor Swift fans at Union Catholic rejoiced at the announcement of a day off on October 21st, 2022. Why? The release of Taylor Swift’s 10th studio album Midnights debuted at midnight EST that day. In addition, Swift teased the idea of another “chaotic surprise at 3 a.m.,” causing fans to speculate about extra tracks, music videos, tour dates, and even a whole new album. However, the idea of learning chemistry running on only three hours of sleep was not appealing.

The prospect of new material from the 32-year-old artist has been destroying the sleep schedules of fans of Swift across the nation. This madness started the night of the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards on August 28th. After receiving various awards for the music video “All Too Well (10 Minute Version; Taylor’s Version),” she announced the album about thirteen sleepless nights. The announcement was shortly followed by an Instagram post with track titles 1 through 13. Over time, through a series on Tik Tok, @taylorswift released the 13 names of her tracks on the album. One by one, she embraced the concept of “sleepless nights” and posted these videos at midnight. Videos were sporadically posted, using a bingo console and numbered balls to determine which track title to announce next. Theorists wonder if the artist intentionally chose the order to release the titles, as it would be in true character for the artist to plan this far ahead.

The queen of hidden messages has been hinting at this album and those that preceded Midnights since she began writing music. In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, she talked about her love of Easter Eggs, starting at the age of 14, putting together her debut album. “I wanted to do something that incentivized fans to read the lyrics because my lyrics are what I am most proud of out of everything I do,” Taylor Swift remarked. Capital letters in lyric sheets, hidden objects in music videos, and even her graduation speech. The artist has turned her fans into detectives, effectively building anticipation around her albums.

Fans listening to “Labyrinth” from the Midnights for the first time questioned why one, in particular, sounded so familiar. The line “Breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out” was apparent in the love song and in her commencement speech at NYU back in May. At the time, nobody could have predicted this line’s importance in an album that had not even been released. Taylor Swift takes great pride in her work, crafting each album with a precise hand. No wonder her fanbase is worldwide, and she is the top-streamed female on Spotify. Her ability to market each album in a creative, original way is genuinely different from that of other artists.