A true Mastermind! It wouldn’t be a Taylor Swift album without a few surprises — and Midnights has more than its fair share.
Prior to Swift, 32, releasing her 10th studio album on Friday, October 21, the pop star revealed that Zoë Kravitz would be credited as a songwriter on the opening track, “Lavender Haze.”
The song, however, also features background vocals from the 33-year-old Big Little Lies alum. The track — which is about ignoring rumors and speculation and staying happy in your “love bubble” with your “new love” — was also cowritten by Swift, Jack Antonoff, Mark Anthony Spears, Jahaan Akil Sweet and Sam Dew.
The Folklore songstress snuck in another familiar face for her track four collaboration with Lana Del Rey. “Snow on the Beach,” an ethereal track about realizing you are falling for someone at the same time they are falling for you, is cowritten by Swift, Antonoff, 38, and Del Rey, 37, but also features longtime Swiftie Dylan O’Brien on drums.
The Teen Wolf alum, 31, previously worked alongside Swift for her 10-minute “All Too Well: The Short Film,” which costarred Stranger Things actress Sadie Sink. The video was released in November 2021, coinciding with the Evermore crooner’s rerelease of her 2012 album, Red.
The Maze Runner star has been a fan of the “Shake It Off” singer for years. In April 2021, he gushed about the pop superstar and found himself having a hard time coming up with a favorite track from her discography.
“Oh, my goodness, like ever?” the New York native joked to Coup de Main at the time when asked his top Swift bop. “T. Swift, I mean, it’s amazing — give any of the rest of us, like, xi months in quarantine and we look back on it, like, ’S—t, I should have done more.’ Give Taylor Swift six months in quarantine and she writes 50 hit songs. It’s incredible.”
He then added that the song “Mirrorball” from 2020’s Folklore “doesn’t get enough credit,” saying, “I’m a big ‘Mirrorball’ fan. I love ‘My Tears Ricochet’ and ‘Mad Woman,’ ‘Epiphany’ [and] ‘The 1.’ There’s so many more, but those are my highlights.”
O’Brien turned from fan to friend, however, after filming “All Too Well,” with the Love and Monsters star telling Entertainment Tonight in July that the pair — along with 19-year-old Sink — had formed “a little group chat.” The Not Okay actor also accompanied Swift to the 2022 VMAs in August, where they took home the Moonman for Video of the Year.
Following his gig in the music video, O’Brien pledged that he would be happy to work with the Grammy winner again in any capacity — including a potential future feature film.
“She would make a really, really good director. If it’s something that her heart’s in, Taylor can do whatever she wants,” he gushed to ET. “She could easily direct a feature and it’d be something I’d sign up for, for sure.”
