TAYLOR SWIFT SCORES NUMBER 1 ON THE UK OFFICIAL ALBUMS CHART WITH MIDNIGHTS
“ANTI-HERO” TOPS THE UK OFFICIAL SINGLES CHART
MIDNIGHTS IS THE UK’S FASTEST SELLING ALBUM OF 2022 AND ACCUMULATES THE BIGGEST FIRST WEEK VINYL SALES IN MODERN UK CHART HISTORY
“ANTI-HERO” IS THE BIGGEST SPOTIFY UK DEBUT FROM AN INTERNATIONAL ARTIST
TAYLOR BECOMES THE FIRST FEMALE ARTIST IN ALMOST A DECADE TO DEBUT AT NUMBER 1 ON BOTH UK CHARTS SIMULTANEOUSLY
Following a record-breaking week for Taylor Swift, her critically acclaimed tenth studio album Midnights tops the UK Official Albums Chart, while lead single “Anti-Hero” tops the UK Official Singles Chart.
Taylor’s Midnights is the fast-selling album of 2022 in the UK, with 204,000 sales, more than doubling her previous biggest opening week in the UK (with 1989 in 2014). Meanwhile, “Anti-Hero” is the Biggest Spotify UK debut from an international artist in history. Taylor is the first female artist to debut at Number 1 on both the UK Singles and Albums Charts simultaneously since Miley Cyrus in 2013.
Taylor also rewrites UK Official Charts history this week as Midnights accumulates the biggest first week vinyl sales since modern chart records began (in 1994). Midnights was certified gold in the UK after just two days of its release.
With nine consecutive Number 1 albums now under her belt, Taylor Swift sets a new all-time Official Chart record, generating the fastest succession of nine UK Number 1 albums of any female artist.
Earlier this week Taylor broke records across all the major music streaming platforms. She became Spotify’s “Most Streamed Artist in a Single Day”, while Midnights became Spotify’s “Most Streamed Album in a Single Day” (with 185M+ Streams). Taylor Swift now holds the top 5 biggest streaming debuts in Spotify’s global chart history. Midnights also broke the record for the biggest pop album of all time on Apple Music by first-day streams. On Amazon Music, Taylor received globally the most first day album streams, the most first week album streams and the most Alexa requests of any artist ever.
Globally, Taylor’s Midnights has accumulated over 2.5 million album equivalents that includes over 1 billion streams, after scoring 67 #1’s on iTunes.
In the U.S., Midnights is already the best-selling album of 2022. It has sold over 1.4 million overall and over 1 million physical albums, with 500,000+ of that sum attributed to Vinyl sales. It has also accumulated the highest week 1 sales since Taylor’s Reputation in 2017 and is the biggest week 1 seller on vinyl since the ‘90s. While “Anti-Hero” became Taylor’s 55th #1 hit on iTunes singles – the most of any artist in history.
Midnights also marks a first for Taylor in Europe, as it sees her score her first ever Number 1 debut in the album charts of both France and Germany.
Right out of the gate, Midnights earned 5 star reviews from The Guardian, Rolling Stone, The Independent and more. It has already gathered some of the most enthusiastic and unanimous praise of her career to date from critics and fans alike.
Listen to Midnights —HERE.
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING ABOUT Midnights
“5 Stars” – The Guardian, Alexis Petridis
“With its confident songwriting and understated synth-pop, Swift’s sophisticated 10th album indicates that she no longer feels she has to compete with her peers.” – The Guardian, Alexis Petridis
“5 Stars” – The Independent, Helen Brown
“Midnights will make you feel as though you’re sleeping over at her house while she spills secrets and settles scores into the night.” – The Independent, Helen Brown
“5 Stars” – Rolling Stone, Brittany Spanos
“Her tenth album returns to the dazzling synth-pop of records like ‘1989’ and ‘Reputation,’ with lyrics caught between a love story and a revenge plot” – Rolling Stone, Brittany Spanos
“‘Midnights’ heralds the return of a pop-music mastermind.” – Los Angeles Times, Mikael Wood
“4 Stars” – The Sunday Times, Dan Cairns
“Swift’s leaning-in vocals and neat lyrical twists elevate her songs far above the pretenders that crowd round her.” – The Sunday Times, Dan Cairns
“4 Stars” – Rolling Stone UK, Mark Sutherland
“The latest remarkable album in Swift’s current white-hot streak gently presents itself as a sort of greatest hits composed of songs you’ve never heard before.” – Rolling Stone UK, Mark Sutherland
“4 Stars” – The Times, Will Hodgkinson
“Midnights appeals because, for all its modern touches, it is essentially an old-fashioned singer-songwriter album about human weakness.” – The Times, Will Hodgkinson
“4 Stars” – NME, Hannah Mylrea
“A shimmering return to pure pop.” – NME, Hannah Mylrea
“4 Stars” – The Telegraph, Neil McCormick
“The songs are strong. Indeed, I’d go as far as to say that Swift has never written a bad song…” – The Telegraph, Neil McCormick
“8/10” – Clash, Matthew Neale
“It may reasonably go on to be recognized as her best album to date, a reminder that magic prevails beyond the frustrations, fantasies and damnations she casts across her latest near-perfect body of work.” – Clash, Matthew Neale
“4.5 Stars” – American Songwriter, Alex Hopper
“Taylor Swift Delivers Her Dreamiest and Most Introspective Album to Date with ‘Midnights’” – American Songwriter, Alex Hopper
“The superstar has delivered a focused, legacy-extending new project” – Jason Lipshutz
Billboard
“You’d be beyond cynical not to realize that there’s a real heart being exposed here, amid an adroitness for honest self-revelation that’s as canny as anything we’ve gotten out of a reigning superstar since John Lennon told us he didn’t believe in Beatles.” – Variety, Chris Willman
“Midnights is the mastermind’s ultimate power move” – Rolling Stone, Rob Sheffield
“4 Stars” – The Irish Times, Ed Power
“Swift has, with Midnights, made a tangled, twisting tour de force…” – The Irish Times, Ed Power
“8/10” – Esquire, Alex Bilmes
“’Midnights’ Is an Instant Classic.” – Esquire, Alex Bilmes
“4 Stars” – Metro, David Bennun
“She’s back – and boy does she deliver…” – Metro, David Bennun
“4 Stars” – The i Newspaper, Kate Solomon
“On one of her most personally revealing albums yet, Taylor Swift invites us into a woozy, soft-focus world of self doubt and moonlit conversations. Midnights sounds and feels like a grown-up sequel to the synthy, ‘80s pop world of 1989; she is no longer the wide-eyed ingenue twirling onto the New York streets but a hardened adult with all the self-awareness (and liberal swearing) that goes with it.” – The i Newspaper, Kate Solomon
“5 Stars” – Dork, Abigail Firth
“She’s consistently confessional, but ‘Midnights’ finds Taylor Swift at her most human.” – Dork, Abigail Firth
“4 Stars” – The Mail On Sunday, Tim De Lisle
“It’s breathy, twitchy and thoroughly catchy”– The Mail On Sunday, Tim De Lisle
“4 Stars” – The Observer, Kitty Empire
“Poised between self-flagellation and pure bliss, Pastoral phase behind her, Swift is back in the city with an album of fascinating small-hours contemplation.” – The Observer, Kitty Empire
“4.5 Stars” – The Sun, Jacqui Swift
“The singer-songwriter knows just how to make her millions of fans happy” – The Sun, Jacqui Swift
“5 Stars” – Daily Star, James Cabooter
“Back to her confessional best, Taylor Swift’s 10th album Midnights is her crowning glory.” – Daily Star, James Cabooter
“10/10” – Gigwise, Lucy Harbron
“The strongest reinvention we’ve seen from Taylor Swift in the most honest way.” – Gigwise, Lucy Harbron
“5 Stars” – The Sunday Mirror, James Cabooter
“This is as close as you get to pop perfection” – The Sunday Mirror, James Cabooter
“In the loneliness of the dark, Taylor is just as exposed, flawed and anxious as the rest of us. You can’t help but wonder what else might be keeping her up at night — here’s hoping she’ll tell us about it soon.” – i-D, Alim Kheraj
“4 Stars” – DIY Magazine, Ben Tipple
“In keeping with the record’s theme – thirteen tales of individual sleepless nights – it’s arguably her most candid release to date.” – DIY Magazine, Ben Tipple
“This makes Midnights the closest thing to a concept album Taylor Swift has ever created, and also lends a dreamlike, transient quality to the record as a whole.”- Consequence of Sound , Mary Siroky
“Despite the restless-slumber concept that drifts through its songs, a serene acceptance lurks beneath the singer’s 10th studio album.” – Entertainment Weekly, Marc Hirsh
“Atmospheric. Subtle. Introspective. Painful. Triumphant.” – HITS, Holly Gleason
“Swift uses Midnights as a way to rethink the sonic rhetoric of first-person storytelling and shake off habits that have served her artistically and commercially for more than a decade.” – NPR, Ann Powers
“8/10” – Hot Press, Paul Nolan
“Midnights sees Swift comfortably retain her status as one of modern pop’s most fascinating and compelling artists.” – Hot Press, Paul Nolan
“Taylor Swift releases the record of the year with ‘Midnights’” – Marie Claire, Bree Player
“Midnights might be her most relatable album yet, and it comes at a time where we all feel so disconnected. Politics has become farcical, the cost of living crisis means stress levels have never been higher, and we’re all healing from the fact we literally just came out of a pandemic. In a world of change, Taylor is my continuity, despite the fact she always surprises us.” – Stylist, Chloe Laws
“Much like 1989 before it, this album will stand the test of time, and will be enjoyed increasingly in the years to come.” – AV Club, Saloni Gajjar
“The new album finds the superstar bringing together the best of Folklore with the best of what came before.” – Slate, Carl Wilson
“She’s not only offering us her most personal reflections – a high bar in Swift’s world – but imparting them with poetic grace and an elevated level of storytelling.” – USA Today, Melissa Ruggieri
“Swift at her best, reminding you of her unparalleled ability to make any emotion feel universal.” – AP News, Elise Ryan
“Midnights is perhaps her most self-aware work to date (with some of her best writing to boot)…” – Paste, Ellen Johnson
“Midnights is Swift at her finest, using her quill/fountain/gel pens to write some of her most vulnerable lyrics, screaming at the top of her lungs even through whispers.” – Alternative Press, Ilana Kaplan
“4 Stars” – Sydney Morning Herald, Giselle Au-Nhien
“There’s a self-discovery within this record that feels incredibly satisfying to bear witness to, and it doesn’t hurt that the songs, clever and eclectic, get more addictive with each listen.” – Sydney Morning Herald, Giselle Au-Nhien
“Midnights” is Taylor Swift’s best album. Midnights has the confessional, diaristic elements of Debut, Fearless, and Speak Now; it has the storytelling prowess of Folklore and Evermore; it has the sonic multiplicity of Red; it has the synth-laden bops of 1989 and Lover; and it has the no-fucks-given attitude of Reputation.” – Buzzfeed, Ryan Schocket
“Impressively finding yet another new way to reinvent herself as an artist, Taylor Swift has crafted an intoxicating concept album shimmering with honesty and creative experimentation.” – The Forty Five, Cordelia Lam
“Taylor Swift opens her long-awaited album Midnights by inviting listeners to “Meet me at midnight.” And goddamn it, we will be there, ma’am. We will be there with 13 bells on.” – Pedestrian, Matt Galea
“She is one of pop’s most distinctive vocal melodicists, able to sound conversational and highly tuneful at the same time, with a wonderfully deft use of tone and phrasing.” – Financial Times, Ludovic Hunter-Tilney
“On Midnights, Taylor Swift sounds more herself than ever” – New Statesman, Emily Bootle
“As is Swift’s creative fingerprint, Midnights is as lyrically taut, literary and tongue-twisting as any of her projects.” – SPIN, Bobby Oliver
“Midnights is something brand new, while still ultimately encapsulating all that Taylor Swift is known for – songwriting that leaves her listener feel comforted, understood, and content, in the most beautiful way.” – Notion, Rachel Martin
“I’ve really come to admire and respect Taylor Swift’s approach, both to music and to celebrity.
After all the shit she’s copped, she’s decidedly removed herself from the minutia that comes with being a celeb and only engages with the public on her own terms: every few years through her albums.” –Matt Galea, Pedestrian
“4 Stars” – Toronto Star, Aisling Murphy
“Midnights might be the best album of Swift’s discography.” – Toronto Star, Aisling Murphy
““[Midnights] a return to sleek pop.” – The Australian, Andrew McMillen
“The album is like a confession uttered in the depths of night: It’s honest and authentic in a way that bares the soul.” – Harper’s Bazaar, Dani Maher
