September 21, 2022
Taylor Swift has started to reveal the tracklist for her upcoming 10th studio album, "Midnights," with a special twist — the pop singer will announce each song through a series of TikTok videos designed as a bingo game.
The 11-time Grammy Award winner uploaded the first installment of "Midnights Mayhem with Me" at midnight on Wednesday, explaining her decision to release each track individually before the album's release on Oct. 21.
The first song announced, "Mastermind," is the 13th track on the album, but it's unclear if Swift is planning to release it as a single. The audio of the video has since been removed, but not before Swift super fans were able to decipher it for hints at what they can look forward to over the next month.
"I know that I have a habit of dropping cryptic clues and Easter eggs when giving you information about my music, and I'm not here to deny that. But I am here to defy that," Swift said in the video, gesturing to a bingo cage with 13 balls, each numbered to represent a track on the album. "I'm going to be using this technologically advanced device to help me allow fate to decide exactly what track titles I'm going to be announcing, and in what order."
Though the bingo game appears to be random, Swift announcing the 13th song on the album could be a hint in itself. The musician, born on Dec. 13, 1989, has routinely incorporated her lucky number into her album promotions, including on 2017's "Reputation," and her 2006 debut, both of which feature songs with a 13-second introduction.
@taylorswift Midnights tracklist reveal!! Introducing: Midnights Mayhem with Me 🌌😎 #TSmidnighTS #SwiftTok #MidnightsMayhemWithMe ♬ original sound - Taylor Swift
"I was born on the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th," Swift told MTV News in 2009. "My first album went gold in 13 weeks. My first (No.) 1 song had a 13-second intro. Every time I've won an award I was seated in either the 13th seat, the 13th row, the 13th section or row M, which is the 13th letter."
Swift shocked fans last month when she announced her latest album while accepting an award for Video of The Year at the MTV Video Music Awards on Aug. 28. Her campaign was complete with a series of social media posts explaining the concept of the album, posted exactly at midnight on Aug. 29.
The album announcement was surprising to fans, many of whom had spent months deciphering social media posts and public appearances, looking for clues about which album re-release she was planning next.
Swift made the decision to re-record six of her nine studio albums after the original master recordings were purchased and sold by record producer Scooter Braun.
Most recently, she released "Red (Taylor's Version)" in November 2021, complete with a short film to accompany the album's crown jewel, a 10-minute version of her hit song, "All Too Well." Prior to that, Swift released "Fearless (Taylor's Version)," a re-recording of her second studio album that features hit songs like "Love Story," "Fifteen," and "You Belong With Me."
She also has released a handful of re-recorded singles, including "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)," which was released in September 2021, and "This Love (Taylor's Version)," which was released in May. The original version of both songs appear on her 2014 album, "1989." She has yet to announce her next re-recorded album.
Swift's original music — and some snippets from unreleased re-recordings — have appeared in film releases over the last year, including "Carolina" from "Where The Crawdads Sing," and "Bad Blood (Taylor's Version)" in the promotional materials for "DC League of Super-Pets," which was released in July.
Swift accepted an award for Songwriter-Artist of the Decade at the Nashville Songwriter Awards on Tuesday night. The award celebrated her successes from 2010 through 2019, beginning with the release of "Speak Now" and ending with the release of "Lover."
It's not certain when the next installment of "Midnights Mayhem with Me" will be uploaded to Swift's TikTok account, but fans can keep up with her on social media in advance of the official release of "Midnights."
