an album review by austin zhuang.
I can’t imagine having to do an album review about one of my favorite artists, Halsey, but nonetheless, here we are! This is an album review I’ve been itching to do for quite a while, and I am absolutely glad it came together. Halsey has been an inspiration for authenticity and vulnerability through music and mental health for quite a while. Though she wasn’t born Halsey, but rather Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, she has evolved from this “New Americana” figure into a full-blown alternative pop super-star in the past five years.
This album review is dedicated to the three albums she’s released thus far, which are BADLANDS (2015), hopeless fountain kingdom (2017), and manic (2020). They provide a beginning into her internal mind. Through these albums, a lot of barriers will be broken and a lot of inner details will be let out. Her albums have taught me tremendously about her struggles with bipolar disorder and problems surrounding the LGBTQ+ community (while also being an ally for these people). Thus, these are one of the things that I appreciate so much about her.
Without further ado, here are some of my favorite songs from each of the albums!
BADLANDS (2015)
When this album first released, I honestly wasn’t a really big fan of it. I wasn’t really into alternative music and I wasn’t really attracted to the feeling of the New Americana and her vocals either. I just ignored the album as is, just like I would with other albums, and did not listen to it for a few years; I thought I was never going to like the album as its entirety forever.
I was so wrong when I listened to it thoroughly in quarantine. Here’s my FOUR favorite songs from this album, thus far:
#1: Castle
To me, this was like the gates opening for a new era to begin; this was a beginning to enter the Badlands. In a literal context, the badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded by wind and water. In Halsey’s context, however, it’s a mind of a so-called “future dystopian society.” 2015 was a fairly Americana year, so thinking about it now, her releasing the album at that time was the right year and at the right moment.
She talks about the constant hit-on by fans and paparazzi, and how because of her anxiety, this is the vulnerability she decides to share to people because of her fame. She also talks about male domination as toxic, empowering any women around her to “rise up” and “rise to the occasion.”
#2: Hold Me Down
This song, in a nutshell, pretty much gives a pretty simple message: “F*ck arrogant people.” In an interview Halsey did, she got the inspiration to write this song because she overheard people talking bad stuff about her. She said, “No matter how small you are or how small people may make you seem, you should never let anything ‘hold you down’.”
#3: Roman Holiday
The moment this song came on, it INSTANTLY reminded me of the legendary movie, The Breakfast Club; it even brought back the nostalgia of it. In fact, it gives some sort of sequel or theme song to it. It is more of the apex of the dystopia depicted in Badlands, where we’ve all been wishing for quite a while and have been imagining it too.
#4: Colors (pt. 1 + 2)
I think she speaks authentic thoughts about relationship issues, especially in her recent ones with Matt Healy (and eventually, G-Eazy). I think she alludes to a much more different depiction. In my opinion, blue is the meaning of inexperienced territory on so many levels. The bipolarity behind it could also play a part in this too, but we can’t allude if this was actually true to Halsey just yet within the album.
hopeless fountain kingdom (2017)
I was more familiar with this album when it first came out. I liked a few songs from it, like Now or Never or Strangers (the joint collaboration she did with former Fifth Harmony group member Lauren Jauregui). But the rest of the songs either got too explicit for me, or I just wasn’t in the vibey kind-of mood for it.
However, that all changed when I started liking Halsey more as an artist and the way she portrayed her bipolar disorder & the vulnerabilities behind it. I especially loved how she alluded the story of Romeo and Juliet into the album and into the overall theme of it. Here’s my three favorite songs from the album, in much more detail than before.
#1: Heaven In Hiding
When I first heard the minor key in this song, I alluded it to Halsey’s version of a party scene from Romeo and Juliet (possibly). In verse one, it gets very physical a bunch of the time, especially when she sings “I’m breathing down your neck, your body screaming.”
This past week was a really rough week also because I started having a crush on this guy I’ve been talking to lately. I saw him as a really cute and open guy, and one with aspirations and goals. The only thing that I didn’t add on was the “heaven in hiding” and the energy that we could “potentially put on a show.” However, if it were to happen, it would happen within a flash, without a doubt.
#2: Now Or Never
This song talks about the enduring hardships from a dystopia. I remember writing this from my daily journal back in early May; I wrote: its ‘ups and downs’ mean something pretty deep. For instance, the up could mean high or manic times, and the low would mean an extremely depressive episode. “Hold me down” could allude to the fact that making love rough time would happen, due to men’s frustrations? I am living for that moment honestly. Now I also the meaning behind “how I gotta draw a line” as well; HONEY, that’s where you draw boundaries. This is something that I’ve always wanted to know, about her and her curious side.
#3: Don’t Play
This song gives me confidence but it also has educated me more than the literal lyrics being alluded throughout this entire thing. In fact, through this song, she’s making aware that she’s dealing with her hypomania episode but ALSO, the fact that she can’t and doesn’t want to let it control her. White lines make it obvious that she is doing cocaine….
manic (2020)
This is probably the album that I’ve listened to in full, and in its entirety. This album had a very pop-like vibe and it brought out the best from her. It also felt different because she painted a new beginning for herself, and decided to share her experiences deep from the bottom of her heart. The countless collaborations she did with SUGA from BTS, and Alanis Morrisette, all painted highlights of how important and cool it was too. Here’s my three favorite songs from her album (although, to be honest, if I didn’t have a selection the entire album would’ve been my favorite songs).
#1: Ashley
Forreal though, this is actually her. This is her saying goodbye to 3H and saying hello to 1A. 3H, in this context, would mean Halsey and her third album, while 1A would mean the first album she’s produced, authentically, as herself, Ashley Nicolette Frangipane. This song talks about the identity and mental health problems she has to deal with on a daily basis. As a matter of fact, she’s leaving the Badlands behind, and the Romeo & Juliet dystopia she once lived in as well.
#2: SUGA’s Interlude
I think this song requires a bit of understanding because there’s a bit of Korean involved (the part where SUGA/Yoongi raps his part), but once you’re used to it, it will make so much sense. The collaboration was definitely not only a hit, but also a hit in real life. Both Halsey and SUGA talk about the pressures they have to face as celebrities, especially always being in the spotlight and on the news. The one lyric I really like from SUGA’s verse is when he raps “self-loathing and pride live in my heart // 자기혐오들과 자만이 내 마음속에 살아” (English // Korean). This literal transition put me in a lot of awe, honestly.
#3: Forever… (is a long time)
A trio and change of settings from calmness to anxiety. The major to minor key transition makes it absolutely apparent that is still happening though.
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