When Taylor Swift’s new album Midnights arrived after being announced at the MTV VMAs at the end of August, many fans missed Aaron Dessner, the musician from The National and Big Red Machine who collaborated with Swift on the fan-favorite albums Folklore and Evermore.
Luckily, Swift met those needs with the deluxe version of Midnights (dubbed the 3am Edition), which arrived at, yes, 3 a.m. ET with seven extra tracks. Three of them are co-written and co-produced by Dessner: “The Great War,” “High Infidelity,” and “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve.” He also co-wrote and co-produced “Hits Different” from the deluxe CD edition.
He seemed to tease a role on the record when a few days ago he took to Twitter to share a cryptic message: “Always have to remember things aren’t necessarily how they seem!” After the 3am Edition dropped, Dessner tweeted, “congrats @taylorswift13 @jackantonoff and all who contributed to the brilliant main album and [applause] to the chaotic 3am deluxe shift also…..incredibly honored as always to help make songs with you.”
congrats @taylorswift13 @jackantonoff and all who contributed to the brilliant main album and
to the chaotic 3am deluxe shift also…..incredibly honored as always to help make songs with you. https://t.co/5JFHEamWMx
— Aaron Dessner (@aaron_dessner) October 21, 2022
In July of 2021, the “Cruel Summer” singer also wrote about her appreciation for working with him: “I can’t believe I get to work with Aaron Dessner. When Aaron came into my life, I was ushered into his world of free-flowing creativity where you don’t overthink, you just make music. His generosity of spirit and humility bleeds into every part of his life.”
Listen to “The Great War” above and “High Infidelity” and “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” below.
Midnights is out now via Republic. Get it here.