Through and through, Taylor Swift was the biggest surprise of last night’s MTV Video Music Awards. First, she just showed up to the show, making a surprise appearance. Then, while accepting the evening’s last award (for Video Of The Year), she ended her speech by saying, “I had sort of made up my mind that it might be a fun moment to tell you… my brand new album comes out October 21st. And I will tell you more at midnight.”
That was also the info she offered at that moment, but as she indicated, she quickly took to social media to reveal more.
The album is called Midnights and Swift shared the cover art for it. It features a photo of Swift looking at a lighter she’s holding, and next to that is a perhaps-temporary tracklist, as it notes 13 songs labeled “Track One,” “Track Two,” etc. (although it is possible those will be the actual song titles and not just placeholder names).
She also explained the nature of the LP, writing:
“We lie awake in love and in fear, in turmoil and in tears. We stare at walls and drink until they speak back. We twist in our self-made cages and pray that we aren’t — right this minute — about to make some fateful life-altering mistake.
This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams. 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.
Midnights, the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life, will be out October 21. Meet me at midnight.”
Find Swift’s post below.
Midnights is out 10/21 via Republic. Pre-order it here.