After months of Machiavellian teasing on social media, Taylor Swift has finally released her highly anticipated 10th studio album “Midnights,” signaling her official return to pop music. Despite the years that have gone by, the album sounds like a reverbed, lethargic continuation of her three past pop records — “1989,” “Reputation” and “Lover.” 

This record, produced by Swift’s long-term collaborator Jack Antonoff, sets her within a hazy and muddled pool of large synths and electronic drums. Swift described the highly curated concept for this record on Instagram, sharing “I think of Midnights as a complete concept album, with those 13 songs forming a full picture of the intensities of that mystifying, mad hour.” From feelings of self-doubt to musings about lost loves on the aptly titled “Midnights,” Swift invites listeners inside her midnight mind.

On this record, Swift proves yet again that she is truly at her lyrical best when writing about the experiences of someone under the harsh surveillance of society. “I’m the problem, it’s me,” Swift sings on “Anti-Hero,” the album’s third single, which features Swift as the villain of her own story. Delving into the self-destructive habits Swift and many of her fans experience, she expertly writes “When my depression works the graveyard shift, all of the people / I’ve ghosted stand there in the room.” 

Swift continues her introspection with “You’re on Your Own, Kid,” in which she returns to her diary-entry style of writing, traveling from her first parking lot concerts to returning to her hometown — a return that leaves her feeling like famed prom queen Carrie standing in a “blood-soaked gown.” She illustrates her pain in heartbreaking lines, such as “I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this / I hosted parties and starved my body / Like I’d be saved by a perfect kiss.” Swift revealed her past struggles with disordered eating in her 2020 documentary “Miss Americana,” and since then, Swift has been writing about the unjust societal expectations placed on women which played a part in the perpetuation of her own body image.

The album’s final song, “Mastermind,” reveals Swift’s origin story, accompanied by a synth that sounds like a sped-up version of the “Stranger Things” theme song. She explains the root of her self-doubt and approval-seeking tendencies, which she captured in previous albums with songs like “The Archer” on “Lover,” and both “mirrorball” and “this is me trying” on “folklore.” She sings, “No one wanted to play with me as a little kid / So I’ve been scheming like a criminal ever since / To make them love me and make it seem effortless.” 

Although these songs capture Swift at the height of her lyrical powers, a majority of the album features unremarkable lyrics by Swift standards. The cheekier, sloppier, pop lyrics, while expected from pre-pandemic Swift, fall flat because of the songwriting prowess demonstrated on recent triumphs “folklore” and “evermore.” 

“Bejeweled,” an awkward and plastic-sounding song, features the clichéd line, “Don’t put me in the basement / When I want the penthouse of your heart.” Swift refuses to be reduced to the seriousness of the folkloric woods she has been trekking through. However, unlike the pop albums of “Lover” and “1989,” on “Midnights,” she strays from her usual divulging bridges and post-bridge breakdowns to the detriment of the songs.

It is clear that Antonoff and Swift were aiming to push this record into a previously unexplored sonic landscape when looking at songs like “Midnight Rain.” This track is easily the most experimental on the record with a fully pitch-shifted chorus. However, even with the flourish of a vocal filter, this song, along with the majority of this album, feels safe, derivative and insufficient. 

As one of the most prolific producers of the current music industry, Antonoff has had a hand in shaping the sonic landscape of pop music. Producing for The 1975, Lana Del Rey, Clairo, Lorde and more, Antonoff’s sound has become highly recognizable. Without the eclecticism of “folklore” and “evermore” collaborator Aaron Dessner or the highly formulaic pop sounds of Max Martin and Shellback, this record feels too familiar. The dreamily sweet lullaby “Sweet Nothing,” penned by Swift and her longtime partner, Joe Alwyn, sounds eerily similar to the production of Clairo’s album, “Sling,” which was also produced by Antonoff. “Lavender Haze” — the moody album opener — features an identical drum fill from Lorde’s track “Hard Feelings/Loveless” — again, produced by Antonoff.

However, Swift and Antonoff are found at their most derivative on “Vigilante Shit.” Depicting Swift’s alleged involvement in the split of Scott Braun and his wife, this song is a regurgitation of the most mundane aspects of the 2017 album “reputation.” Huge synths, a dark bass line and a simple trap-esque beat shape this knock-off  “reputation” track. On “reputation,” Swift’s quest for revenge was masterful and provided for one of her most intricately planned eras. “Vigilante Shit” fails simply because Swift not only already did it, but also had already done it better. 

Swift draws again on revenge in “Karma,” a playful upbeat boast of having karma on her side. Unlike “Vigilante Shit,” this song does not fall into the “reputation” era bitterness. Instead, Swift cheekily refers to karma as her boyfriend, a queen, a god, and a breeze in her hair on the weekend because she “and karma vibe like that.” 

When Antonoff and Swift strip back the excessive layering of vocals and trap beats, they create dreamy synth-soaked fairy tales. “Labyrinth” has dreamy “The Archer” energy while describing falling in love. The internet-breaking Lana Del Rey feature “Snow on the Beach (feat. Lana Del Rey)” — while disappointingly using only a whisper of Del Rey — is a swirl of romance, mildly reminiscent of Christmas music sounds. 

The 3am bonus tracks, which arrived at 3 a.m. following the midnight release, contained seven songs that did not make the official tracklist. One of the bonus tracks, “Bigger Than The Whole Sky,” which serves as an alleged heartfelt tribute to a miscarriage or lost loved one, is filled with sweeping swells of melancholy. 

There is no doubt that Swift is by no means out of interesting things to say. Her music will always be at its best when her lyricism is at the center. This record’s confusingly dreary landscape blurs out the very thing that draws the world into Swift’s sleepless nights. 

Despite a valiant effort to push forward the sonic landscape of current pop music, this album reverts back to the sonic boundaries Swift had previously broken in pop. Unlike the genre-breaking success of her previous pop records, “Midnights” offers little to indoctrinate new swaths of Swift fans. However, like all of Swift’s past records, the album will age like “Red” wine and prove once again that she truly is a mastermind. 

Contact Abbie Thompson at [email protected].