it’s midnights night 😗 and 2 years after its release, my issues with it still stand: the lack of buildup and identity in most of the tracks.
sonically, you can clearly tell where jack was trying to take the album. maybe a little too much, though, that it’s hard to distinguish one song from the next. and then you see the issue persisted in the projects that followed. exhibit a: the 1989 vault tracks.
let’s be honest, bejeweled CARRIED the standard version. a few other standouts include lavender haze, question (aged like wine—what about it), and mastermind, but the rest are just…there. YES, even antihero was meh.
the 3am songs, however, are a whole other story. now that was the collection the standard version was trying to be but couldn’t quite pull off. BABY. mature songwriting, captivating storytelling, and lush production that calls to mind folklore and evermore (you know those are my babygirls), but with a little extra sparkle and pop punch.
midnights was a breath of fresh air when it first dropped, especially with the complete sonic shift from its two ✨pandemonium✨ predecessors. next to TTPD (yawn), it definitely felt more exciting. but in the context of THE pop albums—1989, reputation, even lover—miss new york said it best: it’s cute, but cute next to gorgeous? gorgeous is you know…gonna devour cute.
anyway what’s a girl gonna do? i polish up nice iktr
January 3, 2025, IG Stories
