I have this thing of getting older but never wiser
Midnights become my afternoons
When my depression works on the night tour
All the people I made as ghosts are there in the room

The track Anti-Hero – which does not open the album Midnights – perhaps is the one that best contextualizes what Taylor Swift wants to tell us with her latest work, released today.

The American singer is one of the most talented pop artists in recent years, with a collection of consistent and quality songs. Her latest Midnights features a “loud-mouthed” Taylor, generally best known for her “nice girl” image. That’s right, there are SIX tracks in which he sings the f-word. Funny.

Taylor Swift is a good storyteller and with that, her songs are always curious, although her style of speeding up some stanzas has already become her signature and doesn’t necessarily make anything very original. Still, it’s first-class pop and now she’s back to being her own character, with messages that her fans love. “I’m damned if I do give a damn what people think,” she sings on the Midnights opening track, Lavander Haze.

Her tenth album in 16 years, Midnights is “stories of 13 sleepless nights spread across my life… a journey through terrors and sweet dreams. The floors we walk and the demons we face.” Yes, she sings of love, fantasies, and regrets. Taylor also counts on the participation of Lana Del Rey in Snow On the Beach and brings lyrics with messages. Not about exes alone, after all, she’s been with Joe Alwyn for many years and crises or disappointments are in the past.

Though a veteran in her mid-30s, Taylor still sounds and sings to a very young audience. What no one can deny is her talent. Her music is always welcome. She, however, knows that signature flirts with a lack of originality and jokes in Anti-Hero:

I wake up screaming from dreaming
One day I’ll watch as you walk away and life will lose all its meaning

To me, Maroon, Lavander Haze, Bejeweled, and Karma look like hits. It’s not 1989, but even when it’s lukewarm, Taylor Swift‘s good.