Welcome to Vox Populi, where Columba College ākonga cast a critical eye over pop culture happenings. This week, Uma Reid (Year 9) takes us through pop juggernaut Taylor Swift’s latest LP, Midnights.

“Meet me at midnight” sings Swift, in the opening seconds of her shiny new album, Midnights. The soundscape echoes Lorde’s Melodrama and Swift’s own Reputation, thanks to their shared producer, the ever-present Jack Antonoff. While it’s a lyrical and musical step down from her past few albums, it’s still worth a listen.

The opening two-thirds are washed-out synth-pop, devoid of the big choruses and snarky songwriting Swift is known for. Vigilante’s production is a lazy copy of Billie Eilish’s You Should See Me In a Crown, while Bejeweled’s chorus doesn’t pack the punch it should, considering its clever lyrics. Throughout Midnights, Jack Antonoff’s well-known punchy production sounds toothless. On the other hand, the deluxe tracks deliver production that effortlessly echoes the mood of the song. Heartbreak on tracks like Bigger Than The Whole Sky is perfected by Swift’s second-favourite producer, Aaron Dessner. Yearning is also done perfectly by Dessner on Glitch.

The themes on Midnights deviate ever-so-slightly from Swift’s previous work. The core theme is self-loathing, despite her best efforts to market it as a concept album about the middle of the night. Spoiler alert: most of the songs have nothing to do with the night. Self-loathing even shines on tracks like Bejeweled and Mastermind, two of the most confident songs ever released by Swift.

Despite some missteps, the deluxe songs which make up the album’s final third are some of her best work to date. I sincerely hope Swift makes more music like High Infidelity, and less like Snow On The Beach.