When Taylor Swift said “Midnight’s Mayhem,” she certainly meant it. Last night while everyone else was snoozing in bed, Swifties were wide awake, stunned to see (and hear) possible leaks of Swift’s new album Midnights, which debuts in less than two days on Oct. 21. While doing my morning scroll on every social media platform, Twitter’s #1 trending topic “MIDNIGHTS LEAK” caught my Swiftie eye. After falling for many trolls and thinking this was all a fluke, I heard possible snippets of Swift’s highly-anticipated song “Snow on the Beach” featuring Lana Del Rey, as well as “Anti-Hero.”
The snippets leaked to Twitter distinctly had Swift’s voice and tone that we have heard in her previous albums Folklore and Evermore. In the few-second clip of “Snow on the Beach”, I could even hear Del Rey’s background vocals. The leaks have since been deleted.
Now, this is all speculation and these clips may not be the fully edited versions of Swift’s new songs — in fact, they easily could’ve been early song demos during the creation of the album. So, if you do stumble upon the leaks while scrolling through Twitter, take them with a grain of salt. With less than 48 hours before Midnights is officially released, Swifties on Twitter are spiraling about the supposed leak, urging anyone who sees these leaks to block and report the trolling accounts. Many Swifties are adamant (as they should be, TBH) about protecting Swift’s new music so they can experience her art authentically on Oct. 21.
This isn’t the first time Swifties came to Swift’s side after an album leak. Both Lover (2019) and 1989 (2014) were leaked before their release dates. Back in 2014, two days before 1989 was released, the album had leaked but Swifties came to the rescue. “Two days before the album came out, it leaked online, and it was the first time I’ve ever had an album leak without it trending on Twitter,” Swift told NPR. “Because my fans protected it. Anytime they’d see an illegal post of it, they’d comment, ‘Why are you doing this? Why don’t you respect the value of art? Don’t do this.’”Eight years later, Swifties are trying to do damage control in the same manner for Midnights, respecting Swift’s work and not wanting to ruin the surprise for other fans.
A few theories have already been spinning among Twitter users about the connection between the leak and the rushed “Midnight’s Mayhem with Me” reveal. On Oct. 7, Swift chaotically announced the last five tracks of the Midnights album throughout the course of the night until 4 a.m. One Twitter user even speculated that perhaps Swift had to prematurely release all track titles before potential leaks would spoil them for fans. Fans seemed to agree with this theory, with the tweet racking up over 10,000 likes.
With the anticipation over another monumental album by Swift, it’s tempting to want to spoil the wait for yourself and others, but I advise all fans to just wait until Friday. Have a listening party with friends and enjoy the moment — it’s what Blondie wants.