To a lot of people, Taylor Swift is an inspiration, and her recent release, Midnights, has brought in a lot of new fans.

“Taylor Swift is an icon; she’s my inspiration. I think she shows a lot of women a lot of issues in the industry. I think she’s really open and honest about their experiences and helps other women be vocal and honest about their experiences,” sophomore Bella Leary said. 

Midnights brought in not only a lot of new fans, but it also brought a new sound to the table. With her past releases Folklore and Evermore being more folk/acoustic-sounding albums, fans expected her to follow that same path. However, when Midnights ended up being more Pop and Upbeat, fans like English teacher Shannon Lesko seemed to like the new sound.

“I feel like in so many ways I’ve grown up with Taylor, and I appreciate the way her new vibe fits where I am in my life now but also seems to speak to the current generation of teens today too,” Lesko said. 

While some, like junior Izzy Vaughn, thought it sounded a lot like her older releases. 

“I don’t know if there’s really a new sound. I think it’s more of a combination of her albums,” she said. .  

The album was nostalgic for a lot of fans because it seemed to recap Swift’s career as a whole, bringing listeners back to those eras. The album summed up her whole career, being heavily inspired by her different “eras.” Songs like Vigilante Sh*t and Karma pay an homage to Reputation, while Maroon is a lot like Red. Swift confirmed this when announcing her upcoming tour, the Eras tour. 

Lesko said she’s been a “Swiftie” since 2007, when she was a country artist.

“I’ve been a Taylor Swift fan since 2007. I still remember sitting in my friend’s car my senior year of high school when she first played me her very first album, and I have vivid memories of jamming out singing with my friends on our party bus to prom singing ‘I’d Lie,’” said Lesko.

Swift’s upcoming tour is already controversial because it was hard to get tickets and they were so expensive. In fact, several Swift fans have sued Ticketmaster for fraud over the botched ticket release, accusing the company of artificially pumping up demand and price fixing. 

However, the ticket problems have not stopped students like Leary from trying to get a ticket.

“I’m trying to get tickets for this concert. It was the weirdest cultural experience ever, I think it really shows being a Swiftie or just a casual Taylor Swift fan makes you a part of a big group,” says Leary.

Along with herself, Swift is bringing artists like Phoebe Bridgers and Paramore on tour. She also collaborated with a handful of popular artists on Midnights, such as Lana Del Ray and Bleachers. Fans had a lot to say about these collaborations. The Lana Del Ray collaboration was very controversial because while fans expected Del Ray to have a verse or two, she only did backing vocals. 

“[Lana Del Ray] should’ve been there a little more. And Bleachers, [Jack Antonoff] is great but like– the remixes– I don’t like the remixes,” said Vaughn. 

Even people who may have not been very big fans of Swift in the past seemed to enjoy the album. Freshman Jack Caratenuto had never been a fan of Swift, but likes Midnights.

“[The album was] pretty good, I liked it. All the songs blended into each other really nicely,” said Caratenuto . 

Fans recall this album release being incredibly exciting because since 2020, Swift has only released re-recordings of her past albums such as Fearless and Red. 

“I think she hasn’t had a proper album release in so long, and she’s gained a lot of fans lately, so I think it was special for new fans to be able to experience the album release,” said Leary, who has been a fan since 2018, after Swift’s Reputation Tour. 

Vaughn also recalls being incredibly excited when finding out about the album. 

“When it was announced I was also in my bed watching the VMA’s and I think I started screaming and my parents thought something happened,” she said.