Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Getty/Screenshot/TaylorSwift
At midnight on Monday, Taylor Swift did the thing: She announced her new album, Midnights. While she technically revealed her upcoming tenth release during Sunday night’s MTV Video Music Awards, a Swift album doesn’t actually exist unless it’s anointed with her highly personal artist’s statement.
Say what you will about her songwriting. (Most people do say very good things.) But after a decade of attempts, it’s time we come out and say it: Swift’s creative writing skills leave much to be desired.
It’s never been more clear to me that Swift has never participated in a creative writing workshop than now, with her Midnights reveal write-up. Her Instagram post has a late-night, diarying-while-laying-in-bed aesthetic, accompanied by what I’d call “Tumblr blog post 2012”-level writing at best.