HALSEY’S ANGRY, DAZZLING YEAR
Her Third Album And The Songs That Knock Us Out
Halsey has been a celebrated artist in pop music and beyond since the release of her debut album Badlands in 2015. Songs like “New Americana” and “Colors” made us fall in love with her youth and edginess, and her fame continues to grow. Her constant artistic evolution keeps us in awe.
We’ve gotten a good taste of what Halsey’s third studio album, Manic, will sound like from the five tracks already released. Each cut is unique and different from anything she’s done before.
Her mega-hit, “Without Me”, about her very public and volatile breakup with rapper G-Eazy shows up on the tracklist. Its heavy pop beat aligns most closely with, “Graveyard”, an intense electro-pop track about dysfunctional devotion.
Halsey’s next release took a sharp turn away from high-production pop. “clementine,” which dropped in late September, is a softer, piano-driven song more like Halsey’s very early work from her Room 93 EP. Its lyrics are lovely and introspective, thoughtfully musing on Halsey’s sense of self.
The two newest releases from Manic couldn’t be more different from one another. “SUGA’s Interlude” is a bass-heavy hip-hop track featuring South Korean rapper SUGA and Halsey’s K-pop pals BTS, while “Finally // beautiful stranger” is a soft rock love song with a tenderness we haven’t seen from her in a while. It perfectly combines her signature edge with a new warmth in lyrics like, “We’re dancing in my living room and up come my fists / I say I’m only playing but the truth is this / I’ve never seen a mouth that I would kill to kiss.”
Though we’ve gotten a good look at the range of sounds from the rest of Manic’s 16 tracks, Halsey’s keeping us on our toes. Other featured artists on the track list are rising R&B artist Dominic Fike and alt-rock icon Alanis Morrisette. Contributing writers and producers include Justin Timberlake, Jon Bellion and Timbaland.
Manic is scheduled to be released January 17, 2020 through Capitol Records.
