Anticipation is building as global pop sensation Taylor Swift is about to release her tenth album, Midnights.
Swift’s first album of new songs in nearly two years, due for release at midnight on Friday morning in the eastern US, is expected to mark the singer’s official return to pop after the more alternative Folklore and Evermore and introspectives of 2020.
Several clips purporting to be from the album have already appeared online.
The leaks first appeared on social media platforms Twitter and TikTok before being taken down, only for more low-quality rips to resurface.
Swift has remained silent on the authenticity of the leaks.
A popular Swift Facebook fan page alerted her followers: “Looks like the whole album has been leaked and is all over Twitter and TikTok. So if you don’t want any spoilers, stay off those platforms “.
Swift’s fans, called “Swifties,” had mixed opinions about the leaked music.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect it to go on with Folklore/Evermore,” said one. “Although I didn’t think she’d be in full folk mode, I was expecting the more mature sound to be the main one with pop on the side,” added another.
“It’s the baby of Lover, Reputation, 1989 and a bit of Evermore. Pop for sure,” joked one fan.
Referring to American alt-pop singer Lana Del Rey and sister trio Haim’s feature on the album, one woman noted, “I really don’t like how men can sing whole verses on songs by Taylor and Haim and Lana had hearts.”
Swift announced the release of Midnights on stage at the MTV Video Music Awards in late August.
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While accepting the award for video of the year, the singer used her acceptance speech to announce the album.
“I thought it might be a fun time to tell you that my new album is coming out on October 21st. And I’ll tell you more at midnight,” he said.
Swift later described the 13-track album as “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.”
“This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams,” he wrote. “The floors we pass and the demons we face. For all of us who have wandered around and decided to keep our headlights on and go looking, hoping that maybe when the clock strikes 12… we’ll find ourselves.
In the nights leading up to the album’s release, Swift has been dropping song names at midnight, in a TikTok series she called Midnights Mayhem With Me.
Midnights is likely to become one of the best-selling albums of 2022.