Taylor Swift announced her tenth original studio album, Midnights, at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards on August 28;[1] its title and cover artwork were released shortly after the same day via social media.

[2] She conceived Midnights as a collection of songs about her nocturnal ruminations, detailing a wide range of emotions such as regret, lust, nostalgia, contentment, and self-loathing.

[5] In an Instagram post that she uploaded the same day, Swift shared that she discovered the expression "lavender haze", which describes the state of being in love, when watching the period drama series Mad Men.

[6][7] Intrigued by its meaning and supposed 1950s origin, Swift saw parallels between the expression and her relationship with the English actor Joe Alwyn; she interpreted it as an "all-encompassing love glow".

After experimenting with different sounds, he "[hit] one button by accident" and played a voice memo that Sweet had sent to him: it was a recording of his roommate Braxton Cook singing wordless melodies over some chords.

[13][28] There were comparisons to the music by other artists: Grace Bryon from Paste thought its "bubbling electropop" production was a borderline imitation of Lorde and Lana Del Rey,[23] Ann Powers of NPR compared the layered vocals and synth drums to Whitney Houston,[16] and Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph said the falsetto "funkiness" evokes Prince.

"[7] The song also explores the pressures that come with protecting this love, such as fighting back gendered stereotypes ("the 1950s shit they want from me")[35] that demand women to become either a wife or a one-night fling.

[37] Writing for the Alternative Press, Ilana Kaplan considered "Lavender Haze" one of the album tracks where Swift grappled with the "good-girl" image that she had constrained herself to, a notion that she had explained in the 2019 documentary Miss Americana.

[74] "Lavender Haze" was certified triple-platinum in Australia;[75] platinum in Brazil,[76] Canada,[77] Mexico,[78] New Zealand,[79] and the United Kingdom;[80] and gold in Poland,[81] Portugal,[82] and Spain.

[84] She then appeared onstage in a purple fur coat, climbing up a ladder leading to an elevated platform, as dancers wheeled around with lavender artificial clouds as props.

[86] "Lavender Haze" received positive reviews from music critics; many deemed it a strong opening track that sets the tone for Midnights.

Club's Saloni Gajjar complimented the sound as catchy and danceable,[87][88] while Rolling Stone's Brittany Spanos and Our Culture Mag's Konstantinos Pappis deemed it restrained and muted,[89] with the former adding that it has a playfulness to it.

[34] In Vulture, Craig Jenkins deemed it one of the R&B-tinged tracks of Midnights that showcased Swift's abilities to create "a mannered genre reset constantly threatening to cut in an alluring new direction".

[18] Annie Zaleski similarly lauded her vocals as "sophisticated and alluring",[11] and The New York Times' Jon Caramanica picked the track as one of the album's better moments with Swift's great singing.

[91] A lukewarm review was from Slant Magazine's Paul Attard, who felt that the opening seconds were burdened by excessive reverb and turned out overwhelming.

[87] Paul Bridgewater from The Line of Best Fit contended that the song was convincing because it showcased Swift's reflective side, "holding a mirror to herself and past behaviours".

[35] Jenkins thought that although the song was inspired by Swift's fame and celebrity, its depiction of a desire for uncomplicated love was resonant and relatable to any listener.

In his list of the select 75 tracks by Swift, Willman highlighted her defiance against the "1950s shit" stereotype and described its production as "a good groove in every possible regard".

[95] Slant Magazine's editorial staff picked "Lavender Haze" as one of the 20 best collaborations by Swift and Antonoff,[20] and Billboard placed it at number 69 on their list of the best songs of 2022.

[43][97] According to Swift, "Lavender Haze" was the first Midnights music video for which she wrote the treatment; she described the concept as "a sultry sleepless 70's fever dream" that encapsulated the "world and mood" of the album.

[102] It starts with Swift waking up at midnight, listening to vinyl records, burning incense, and tracing the outline of the universe on the back of her lover (portrayed by the Dominican-American transgender activist and model Laith Ashley).