Taylor Swift Says ‘Lavender Haze’ Video Helped Her Tap Into ‘Sultry Sleepless 70s Fever Dream’ Vibe
Taylor Swift pulled back the curtain on the making of her new video for “Lavender Haze” on Friday morning (Jan. 27), revealing in a tweet that the treatment for the Midnights opening track was the first one she wrote out of the three visuals she’s dropped so far from her latest album.
“This one really helped me conceptualize the world and mood of Midnights, like a sultry sleepless 70’s fever dream. Hope you like it,” she wrote.
In a second tweet, Swift shouted out her “incredible” co-star Laith Ashley, the sultry model and trans activist who she said, “I absolutely adored working with.” The latter also included four behind-the-scenes photos from the shoot, including one of the singer sitting on the floor, and a bed, looking forlorn, dancing in a plume of purple smoke and checking out some shots on a monitor while surrounded by cast and crew.
Swifties have been eagerly anticipating the “Haze” video for months, ever since the “Bejeweled” visual premiered in late October. Swift shared the Cinderella-inspired “Bejeweled” clip just two weeks after dropping the video for the album’s No. 1 lead single, “Anti-Hero.”
The video for “Haze” — which was co-written by Swift, Jack Antonoff, actress Zoë Kravitz, Mark Anthony Spears, Jahaan Akil Sweet & Sam Dew — was also directed by the singer. It opens with Taylor waking up at midnight, naturally, staring at the ceiling while listening to vinyl, burning incense and tracing the outline of the universe on the back of her Ashley’s back. The scene then explodes into Swift dancing through a purple haze and lounging in a retro 70s living room, where she crawls across a carpet blooming with, obviously, lavender.
Check out Swift’s tweets and the “Haze” video below.
Gil Kaufman
Billboard
