Since she re-recorded some of her older albums, fans have kept one eye open for Taylor Swift’s next big surprise. The release of her new album Midnights was revealed at the 2022 VMAs. The album is so much more than it appears to be to people who are not big fans of Taylor, but she knows how to make this exciting.

Taylor Swift has recently become notorious for her “easter eggs.” These easter eggs are the little hints she drops on various platforms of social media. Taylor has kept her presence on social media fairly minimal, but she keeps posting these hints to keep her fans entertained. These easter eggs range from videos on Instagram to the dresses she wears to various events. To understand the genuine excitement behind the promotion of her albums, fans have to look back at her debut album, Taylor Swift. 

“It’s sort of a tradition that we started a very long time ago,” Swift said to Jimmy Fallon about the origins of her Easter eggs. “I think the first time that I started dropping sort of cryptic clues in my music was when I was 14 or 15, putting together my first album.” (Taylor Swift’s Biggest Music Easter Eggs Over the Years).

Taylor knows how to engage her fanbase unlike any other artist. Through these easter eggs, her fans are encouraged to read the lyrics and appreciate the work she puts into these albums. She has trained her fans to be on their toes at all times, and fans have not been able to sleep since the release of Midnights was announced (no pun intended). On September 21st, Taylor started dropping the names of the tracks on TikTok. Swift called this series “Midnight Mayhem,” and in the videos, she would pick a random ball from a bingo ball cage with the number of one of the tracks from the album on it. She would then release the corresponding track to her fans. The song names of this album vary from “Mastermind” to “Snow on the Beach” (ft. Lana del Rey). Taylor Swift surprised all her fans when she re-recorded Red and collaborated with Phoebe Bridgers on the song “Nothing New,” and now with Midnights, Lana Del Rey will be featured on “Snow on the Beach.”

“This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams,” Swift wrote. “The floors we pace and the demons we face. For all of us who have tossed and turned and decided to keep the lanterns lit and go searching — hoping that just maybe when the clock strikes twelve… we’ll meet ourselves.” (Taylor Swift shares 13-song ‘Midnights’ tracklist, including Lana Del Rey collab).

When fans couldn’t believe Taylor Swift could write a song more emotional than anything on her Folklore album or the ten-minute version of “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version),” she explains that Midnights is one of the most vulnerable albums she has ever written. Not everyone is a fan of Taylor’s music, which is understandable, but she deserves an unbelievable amount of recognition for the wide range of music genres she experiments with. Taylor Swift started as America’s Sweetheart with her entry into the country music genre. As Taylor matured, she gravitated to pop with Speak Now, Red, 1989 and eventually Lover, and she transitioned into a more edgy, emotional genre with her album Reputation (thanks to Kayne West). She then became a well-known folk writer for her albums Folklore and Evermore in recent years. There seems to be nothing this woman cannot do, and who knows what we should even except with Midnights. 

Being a fan of Taylor means being a grade-A investigator and part of a fanbase where the artist will do anything to keep her fans entertained. Throughout the promotion of Midnights, her management team has also announced that she will be going on tour sometime in 2023. Various stadiums in New York and California have been booked out throughout the year, and prices of tickets have been released. Taylor has always been a musical sensation, but she has gained much more popularity from this generation. With her new fanbase, tickets will not be accessible to all fans, but her team is working hard to make tickets as affordable as possible. Tickets will range anywhere from $75 to $500 for front-row seats. Five hundred dollars might seem ridiculous for a concert, but Taylor Swift’s fans would do anything to see her perform on stage again. 

The release of Midnights has kept fans on their toes since September, but the day is finally here. The excitement and anticipation do not end when the album is released; it can safely be assumed that Taylor Swift has many more surprises in store for her fans. Get Excited, Swifties; see you at Midnight.