Ahead of the release of her new album “Midnights” on October 21, Taylor Swift is giving fans a sneak peek. In true Swiftie fashion, Swift reveals song names on the track listing with a playful scheme.
In a series of TikTok videos titled “Midnights Mayhem with Me,” which began at midnight, naturally, on September 21, Swift spins a bingo wheel filled with balls numbered 1 through 13 (one number for each track on the album).
The released number ball matches the name of the track number it reveals. Coincidentally (or not), the first ball she picked up was 13, the singer’s lucky number, often embedded in her art like an Easter egg.
Until all is revealed when the 32-year-old singer’s tenth studio album arrives, fans appreciate any clues they can get.
Here are the track names we know so far:
- Unknown
- “Bordeaux”
- “Anti-hero”
- Unknown
- Unknown
- “Midnight Rain”
- “Question…?”
- “Justice S—”
- “Bejeweled”
- Unknown
- Karma
- Unknown
- “Brain”
At 13 songs, “Midnights” has fewer songs than Swift’s most recent albums – “Folklore” and “Evermore” included 16 and 15 songs respectively will be split into side A and side B, the singer revealed. Target’s special edition “Midnights” CD will also include three bonus tracks.
The songs on the album will be united. In an Instagram post, Swift said “Midnights” would tell “the stories of 13 sleepless nights” scattered throughout her life. Swift has already explored the idea of midnight in the lyrics – think of it as an expanded riff on a favorite theme.
“We lie awake in love and in fear, in restlessness and in tears. We stare at the walls and drink until they answer. We writhe in our self-made cages and pray so that we are not – right now – about to make a fatal mistake that will change our lives,” she said on Instagram.
In Swift’s words, the 13 songs are “a journey through terrors and sweet dreams. The floors we tread and the demons we face”.
“For all of us who’ve tossed and turned and decided to keep the lanterns lit and go searching — hoping that maybe when the clock strikes twelve…we’ll meet,” she continued.
As for the details? Swift only elaborated on one of the songs in detail — and that’s No. 3, “Anti-Hero.” In an Instagram post, Swift said the song would “deep…deep into her insecurities.”
“I struggle a lot with the idea that my life has become unmanageable and doesn’t seem too dark, but I struggle with the idea of not feeling like a person. This song is a real walking tour through all the things that I tend to hate my place,” she said.
Although she composed a song for the movie “Where the Crawdads Sing” and re-recorded her old music, “Midnights” will be Swift’s last new album in two years.