It’s 11:59 PM, one minute before millions of fans’ phones illuminated with Taylor Swift’s official album announcement.

   Making a rare public appearance, Taylor attended the VMAs on August 28th with a purpose in mind. Swift is notorious for subtly revealing hints about her upcoming projects, and as she took the stage to accept her third award of the night for the All Too Well: The Short Film, she used that time to announce her next album. “I was in utter shock.” Avery Appio, a Pines Charter senior, recalls “listening to [Taylor Swift] everyday…since [she] was in elementary school” and is “absolutely ecstatic” with Swift’s recent announcement. 

  “This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams…” Swift writes on social media.

     As for the sonic aspects of the album, PPCHS junior and “Swiftie–” as Taylor Swift fans are named– since her first listen of “You Belong With Me” and “Love Story,” Natalia Klatt foresees Midnights as “a punk rock album,” reviving a similar auditive ambience as her third body of work, Speak Now. She suspects it to be “more upbeat than the last [album,]” stepping away from the tranquil, indie sounds that Folklore and Evermore previously delivered in 2020. As someone who “has switched genres several times” before, it is “hard to say this album will be similar to any of her other albums,” Appio concludes. 

     “Exhilarated and thrilled,” Avery predicts Midnights “will reflect on the personal triumphs and tribulations [Taylor] faced mentally in the era of reconstructing her re-recorded albums.” Providing familiar beats with a new presence, Taylor Swift has been historically rerecording her six preceding albums for the past few years, with the intent to rightfully regain ownership of them. “For her to own her masters is such a significant and essential action.” The senior admires Swift’s persistence, “as it is so deserved that incredibly talented women such as her, gain the rights to their own work and earn that credit.” With Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version) already heard and loved by the world, she temporarily steps back from rereleasing the next from her award-winning discography.

   Following the announcement of her 10th album, speculations of a world tour surge along with anticipation and anxieties from her dedicated fanbase–Taylor not confirming anything yet. With her most recent tour “Lover Fest” falling victim to the pandemic, persevering fans cross their fingers for another chance to scream the lyrics to their favorite songs in the near future. 

   Fans can blast the 13 Midnights tracks through their headphones starting October 21st. Through her praised songwriting, storytelling, and musicality, Taylor Swift continues to leave a mark all over the world.