Unless you’ve lived under a rock for the past six months, you’ve probably heard of Halsey. She is a 20 year old indie pop artist from New Jersey. Her brand new album Badlands was released on the 28th of August and has already received a lot of attention. You’ve probably seen countless pictures of her on Tumblr or have even seen her sitting behind Kayne at the MTV video music awards. No matter how you’ve first heard of Halsey, it’s undeniable that she’s incredibly talented.
Halsey’s lyrics are dark and not what you’d typically expect from a pop album. Badlands is a very poppy album, but feels very sex, drugs and rock and roll. Halsey’s voice is unique, somewhat bluesy and innocent and entirely captivating. New Americana and Hold Me Down are two songs on Badlands that perfectly depict Haley’s style of music, upbeat electronic pop songs with deep lyrically meaning.
Halsey writes about things young adults can relate to, sneaking out and drinking alcohol, feeling like an outsider, and growing up “on Biggie and Nirvana”. Nearly every song on this album is a hit. However, the only song on this album fans might not relate to as well is Drive. While not a bad song, Drive seems disconnected to the rest of the album and seems a little out of place. Otherwise Badlands is a masterpiece from start to finish.
If you’re a fan of artists such as Melanie Martinez or Pvris, Halsey is one to watch. With only one ep and one album under her belt it is astounding how quickly the blue haired songstress rose to fame. Badlands is an incredible pop album that fans of nearly every genre will enjoy.
