As if Zoë Kravitz couldn’t get any cooler, the actress and singer has writing credits on Midnights, Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated new album. This musical pairing may come as a shock, but not only is Ms. Kratvitz born to music royalty, but she is also a part of the R&B and electropop duo Lolawolf. The group has been making music since 2013 and released a song titled “Teardrop” with Miley Cyrus back in 2016. Tenderness, their most recent album, came out in 2020. In an interview with Elle, Kravitz announced she’s in the process of recording a solo project. While the release date for this album was not definitive, perhaps we will hear more from Kravitz soon. But when it comes to Midnights, which songs did Kravitz have a hand in?
According to the Los Angeles Times, “Kravitz, with five other writers including Swift and her frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff, helped create the track ‘Lavender Haze.’” She also has credits on the track “Karma.” According to Entertainment Weekly, Kravitz provided background vocals for “Lavender Haze” as well.
Swift posted an Instagram video summarizing the meaning behind the opening track “Lavender Haze,” and dove into how she “happened upon” the phrase while watching an episode of Mad Men. In the video, she said that she later discovered that “lavender haze” was a common phrase in the 1950s to describe being in love. Swift explained, “If you were in the ‘lavender haze,’ that meant you were in that all-encompassing love glow, and I thought that was really beautiful. My relationship for six years, we’ve had to dodge weird rumors and tabloid stuff, and we ignore it. And this song is about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect what’s real.”
The collaboration between Kravitz, Joe Alwyn, and Swift makes a lot of sense on the “Lavender Haze” track, primarily because they have all dealt with the harsh reality of being in the public eye and protecting their peace while managing fame. Kravitz divorced actor Karl Gusman last year and has most recently been linked to Channing Tatum.
Swift also penned a sweet message to all who contributed to writing Midnights on Instagram. The Grammy-winning singer ended her thank you to her collaborative friends with, “Midnights is a collage of intensity, highs, lows, and ebbs and flows. Life can be dark, starry, cloudy terrifying, electrifying, hot, cold, romantic or lonely. Just like Midnights, which is out now.”
Kravitz hasn’t yet posted or commented about her work on Swift’s new album, but we have photos of them in the same studio. Kravitz feels most vulnerable with her music. In her interview with Elle, she says, “Music is really scary for me because it feels more personal. It feels like my diary.”