After a treacherous year of countless fan speculations over Taylor Swift’s next potential project, Taylor has, once again, completely shocked her fans by announcing a brand-new album, “Midnights.”

While accepting her award for Video of the Year at the 2022 VMAs for the “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)” music video, Taylor Swift shocked fans by announcing that her 10th studio album, titled “Midnights,” would be out on October 21– at midnight.

Swifties, including myself, tuned in to watch the VMAs in hopes that Ms. Swift would potentially make an appearance on the carpet. To our surprise, Taylor did more than just make an appearance on the carpet. After showing up in a dress made completely out of rhinestones, Taylor decided to make headlines once again.

Emma Silva ’23 said, “I will never forget my raw reaction when Taylor Swift, my mother, said that she would be gifting us with her 10th album this year. I nearly passed out and could see nothing but stars for the next five minutes.”

Fans were so shocked by Taylor’s new album announcement because she’s in the midst of completing the re-recordings of her past albums; however, she decided to take a pause to release some brand new music. Fans were sure that Ms. Swift was going to announce her re-recoding for “1989” or “Reputation,” but were pleasantly surprised by the “Midnights” announcement.

Taylor Swift later posted on Instagram, explaining that “Midnights” was inspired by stories of 13 sleepless nights. Ironically, 13 is Taylor Swift’s lucky number, and she bases everything around it–so it came to no surprise that the album was set to have 13 tracks as well.

Fans are speculating that “Midnights” may be Swift’s saddest album, following Swift’s sister albums, “Folklore” and “Evermore.” Adriana Arroyo ’23 said, “I hope that “Midnights” will follow the same sad-girl vibe as “Folklore” because that is my favorite Taylor album to this date.”

Other fans speculate that “Midnights” is the other half of seventh studio album, “Lover.” This theory came to be after fans recalled that “Lover” was originally to be named Daylight, after one of the album’s songs. However, at the last second, Swift decided that Lover was a more suitable name. Some fans believe that the albums, “Lover,” and “Midnights” are meant to be each other’s opposites– telling the story of a relationship’s both beautiful and ugly sides.

Swifities cannot wait for “Midnights” to release on October 21. I don’t know about you, but I will definitely be attending a “Midnights” listening party!