On 28th August 2015, after a few release-date hiccoughs, Halsey released her debut album, BADLANDS. I first stumbled upon Halsey (though she still called herself Ashley Frangipane back then) in summer 2013. I watched a few of her covers on YouTube and couldn't shake this feeling that she had something. Over the next few months I realised I'd had good reason to sense something special in her. I found myself converted to being a fan, and after a couple of small and temporary name-changes Ashley took a big step in her musical journey and became Halsey. In early 2014 she released Ghost as her first official single on iTunes, and it was a poignant moment to bear witness to. A couple of months later, Halsey presented her relatively-small-but-ever-growing fanbase with yet another taste of what was to come, in the form of New Americana. Later on, a newer version of it would prove to be one of the most successful songs she had ever released, with people praising it left, right and centre; dubbing it an anthem for the world's youth. Fast-forward one Room 93 EP, a record deal, a few tours and exponentially more radio plays later, and we arrive in August 2015, with the release of the eagerly-anticipated BADLANDS album.
1. Castle - upon my first listen I knew that I had fallen in love. It's got an awesome hook (as a first line of a song and of the album as a whole); "sick of all these people talking, sick of all this noise". The song starts quietly, with a noise like the flickering of a fluorescent light slowly building in volume and culminating with a fantastic crashing beat that continues throughout the track. Overall, it's low-pitched, dark, and seductive, and just a little bit insidious.
2. Hold Me Down - to me this seems like a parallel to Castle, referencing The Man as in its predecessor ("there's an old man sitting on a throne" / "I sold my soul to a three-piece"), but in a different way. It's as if Castle is about the idea of giving the middle finger to The Man, while Hold Me Down focuses on the very action of doing it.
3. New Americana - this song is a slightly different mix to the original version that was released, but still just as cool. It's been dubbed an anthem for Generation Y, and I can totally see where people are coming from with that. With the drums beating in the style of a marching band, you can envision a whole generation marching side-by-side, in solidarity, pushing against the conventions and norms we are so often forced to comply with.
4. Drive - I wasn't sure about this song at first but it's grown on me immensely since its initial release. I love the authenticity of the car noises (seat belts clicking, mechanical beeping etc.). I think what conflicted me at first is that it's a little bit jarring, as it doesn't seem to follow the standard patterns we're used to hearing in music, but after a few listens I've come to appreciate that as part of what makes it so good.
5. Hurricane - I love the empowering lyrics in this, and I remember the first time I heard it a few months back I loved it just as much as I do now. The main message I get from this song is that we are infinitely more than where we come from, or who we're dating - we are transcendent.
6. Roman Holiday - this track gives me a serious 90s/00s vibe, and combined with the kind of bubblegum pop-sounding vocals and the format it follows, I could so imagine it as part of a soundtrack for a super cool independent coming-of-age film. It's produced to pop perfection, but as always, with an edge.
7. Ghost - it's funny because I've known this song since it first came out a year and a half ago, and it's incredibly cool to see that it made it to the album. It's witty and of a faster tempo and (I say this from experience) a really good one to strut down the street to. This track will always be special because it was the first song that truly cemented Halsey's status as, well, Halsey.
8. Colors - the lyrics in this track are just SO VISUAL, which would make sense, really, as the whole premise of the song is comparing a person/relationship to colours. Plus, there's that passage (you know the one, the "you were red, you liked me because I was blue" one) that Halsey posted on Tumblr many moons ago, which is still such an incredibly beautiful poem, no matter how many times I've heard it.
9. Colors pt. II - at this point we could say that Halsey has left the Badlands. It's intense and dramatic, and you can just feel the beat pulsing through your body.
10. Strange Love - I'm obsessed with this song. I love how right at the beginning there's almost a Wild West-style riff (reminds me of a banjo...probably isn't, but that's the vibe I'm getting), and it's soon joined by a carefully constructed electronic-sounding beat. This combination is like Halsey's inspiration for Badlands itself, evoking images of the arid Nevada landscape, to then be confronted by the booming, manufactured metropolis of Las Vegas. Oh, and I can't mention this song without giving a shoutout to the ineffable honesty of the lyrics, perfectly demonstrated in the repetition of "I don’t have to fucking tell them anything".
11. Coming Down - this isn't my favourite song on the album but it's still a good listen - the acoustic guitar and harmonies are really pretty, and it seems like it'd be the perfect song to drive alone to at night in the pouring rain.
12. Haunting - it reminds me of the kind of music I'd hear in a club at the start, but in a cooler, less generic way. It's possibly my least memorable track of the album, but only because it's got some tough competition!
13. Gasoline - OH HEY THERE, that Wild West banjo riff has returned (are they even called banjo riffs?); glad I wasn't imagining it the first time. In general I love the production of this, especially the beat, as it all seems really organic; transforming recordings of real things like taps leaking etc. into the principal beat. The banjo (still don't even know if that's what it is) (truly a professional music blogger here) continues throughout the song and keeps evoking those conflicting images of a barren landscape versus a gluttonous, electric city.
14. Control - okay. Let's talk about Control. I'll try to be concise but my love for this song knows no bounds, so it may prove difficult. Bear with me. From the very first beat I knew I would love it. It's very much about being in your own head; mentally residing in the Badlands - perhaps one of the more canonical songs of the whole concept of the album. It's produced beautifully, bringing with it an intensely haunting feel. Halsey's light vocals perfectly lend to the eeriness of the track, and the simple nursery-rhyme-esque tune repeated throughout, combined with the whispering voices echoing towards the end transforms an already very good song into a masterpiece. Such intense (intensely creepy) images come to the forefront of my mind when I listen to this, think: abandoned playgrounds with swings moving of their own accord, and cold, empty corridors with wind whistling along them. As the song reaches its climax it turns frantic, almost reaching a level of pandemonium, but the final word, 'control', is like a deep breath after a panic attack, and brings the tempo right down to a calm and collected finale.
15. Young God - this song isn't particularly standout to me but I have no doubt upon further listens I'll like it more and more. It seems to be directly linked to the idea of the 27 Club; musicians who strive to be immortalised in their prime, but who ultimately become victims to their own vices.
16. I Walk the Line - it was an interesting choice to put a cover song as the final track of the (deluxe) record. I like it, and of course there's a warranted admiration for and desire to pay homage to Johnny Cash, but I found myself desperate for yet more Halsey lyrics. More so than her melodies and vocals, it's Halsey's lyrics to me that truly stand out.
Note: this is based on the deluxe album, so the tracklist is a few songs longer than the standard version.
Favourite song(s): Castle / Roman Holiday / Strange Love / Control
Favourite lyric(s): "You're ripped at every edge but you're a masterpiece." (Colors) //
"God damn right you should be scared of me." (Control)
Overall rating: 9/10
I made this graphic to try and visualise the kinds of words that sprung to my mind upon listening to the album. It's not neat and it's not even consistent - we've got some nouns and adjectives and I-don't-know-whats, but it was the best I could do for now. (I may re-edit at a later stage, so watch this space.)
BADLANDS is the album I didn't know I needed. It is an album of paradox and duality, much like Halsey herself. It's dark, angry, sinister and sharp, and it's ethereal and beautiful and fascinating. It's raw and gritty while it's produced to perfection. Its beats are often roaring and thunderous as a 747, yet it maintains an ethereal, diaphanous feel, notably due to Halsey's delicately affected vocals, as if it is somehow simultaneously a powerful jet engine and the clouds it flies through. It's celestial and surreal, while being grounded in the harsh realities of the Earth. Halsey's light vocals juxtapose the frequent darkness of her content, and the melodies form a little battle of their own; constantly fighting between the light and dark.
There's something inherently artistic about the way Halsey handles her words, and through this she transcends the simple barrier of the aural and moves into the visual and even the kinaesthetic - she moulds her words like a sculptor with clay and turns them into something tangible, and she paints intensely vibrant and realistic images onto the minds of her listeners. BADLANDS' lyrics are exceptionally visual, evoking images of the backstreets of an overpopulated city; dark, dirty and damaged, but always with an inexplicable beauty and allure to them, and with so much story. BADLANDS itself is the story of clawing through malevolence and creating light amongst darkness.
Both visually and aurally the whole album feels wonderfully cinematic. It reminds me of so many (very different) films, such as; Heathers, Blade Runner, Clueless, Romeo and Juliet and Showgirls. The production of the record contributes to this effect, where external sounds (like whispers, church choirs, car noises etc.) help to create a quadrophonic feel, letting listeners feel as if they are experiencing the music in a cinema.
I like to call Halsey's music 'nightmare pop' - it's a darker kind of alternative pop, daring, and more intense lyrically and melodically. Oh, and it's 'nightmare pop' because this refusal to restrict yourself to social norms is the kind of thing that would give The Man night terrors. Rebellion's scary for those in power, right?
BADLANDS is full of really clever, super conceptual lyrics, and it's metaphors-galore, piled high with imagery and innuendo. It's refreshing to find such an artist; one whose incredible lyricism and immense creative vision somehow overtakes even her impressive vocals.
Any listener will be able to tell that Halsey has squeezed her heart and soul into this record, resulting in such a vehemently honest and personal piece of work. As an artist and a person, she cannot be pigeonholed. She is bold and loud and unapologetic and so is her music. BADLANDS is exciting, devastating and intelligent, and so undeniably Halsey.
See you next time!
Georgia
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