I Still Love Halsey

By Grace S.

Ashley Frangipane, more famously known as Halsey, came out with her third album titled Manic on February 17, 2020. There are sixteen tracks that cover an array of musical genres from country to Korean pop to hip hop to rock. Like the title of her album, the consistency of genres throughout is manic.

Before the album came out, six singles were officially released: “Without Me”, “Graveyard”, “clementine”, “Finally // Beautiful Stranger”, “SUGA’s Interlude”, and “You should be sad”. She is going on a tour with this album called the “Manic World Tour”. As of writing this article, Columbus is not a stop.

“Honest” is a word I have grown to despise. Every artist out there says their music is “honest” and “raw” and “real”, and it rarely is. Plus, I don’t think that is something to brag about. Yes, I hope your album I’m paying $14.99 for is not composed of meaningless lyrics just vague enough to fit any scenario any tween to young adult could be going through while being accompanied by a good beat. I don’t think that’s too much to ask for. Manic is different though. As much as that word is overused, Manic by Halsey is honest. She writes about topics most people repress. She addresses the painful things in her life such as her miscarriages, wanting to be a mother, what her loneliness drives her to do, and how her father doesn’t call her anymore. When Halsey calls her music honest I don’t get annoyed, like I normally do, because she’s right. It is. Her music is painfully honest.

Halsey has a talent for writing about experiences so well that sometimes I feel like she reads my diary. The first single on this album, “Without Me”, was released a week before I lost a friend I thought would be in my life forever. Once I listened to the song post-friend, I was hit with the shocking realization that that song was about my situation. Line for line, Halsey knew what I was going through. It is a song about how you can do the most for somebody, and they will still find a way to blame you and not appreciate you. I used to angry scream that song in my car because it was so personal. I’ve calmed down now, but if I’m having a bad day, I’ll play this tune and work out all my anger.

There is a seamless transition between “Forever … (is a long time)”, “Dominic’s Interlude”, and “I HATE EVERYBODY” that is almost too beautiful for words. Before the album came out, Halsey requested fans listen to the album in the order it was listed. These three songs are one of the (many) reasons why. “Forever … (is a long time)” ends with the lyrics, “Talk to your man, tell him he's got bad news coming”. It goes right into “Dominic’s Interlude” where “Talk to your man, tell him he's got bad news coming” is in the chorus. Once “Dominic’s Interlude” ends, there is a sound of a cassette player being rewound, and “I HATE EVERYBODY” begins. Fans of the album have commented on Twitter that they didn’t realize these were three separate songs because they run together so cohesively.

“929” cuts deep. The first time I really heard this song was during a night drive with my friend. It was on her aux and every line stood out to me. As the song progresses, the topics get heavier and heavier and by the end she is yelling the words.The topics covered range from not meeting your heroes to being used in the industry to missing her father. She samples her song “Eastside” with Benny Blanco and Khalid during a verse. She has done this before, sampling her own song in other songs, in her debut album Badlands in “Gasoline”. I love it when she does this. As someone who knows all of her songs, it is fun to catch the Easter Eggs she hides and the references she makes. It is called “929” because she was born on September 29. At the beginning of the song there is a voice memo where she speaks about how she was born at 9:29am on 9/29. The song ends with another voice memo where she admits she was actually born at 9:26am. She then calls herself a liar and sounds disappointed in herself. It’s heart wrenching and beautiful.

One song that always makes me cry is “More”. This song is about how bad Halsey wants to be a mom. Even reading over the lyrics makes my eyes misty. She has endometriosis and has had three miscarriages. She has been vocal about her struggles and about her support of Women’s Reproductive Rights. In this song, she sings about all the difficult times she has had with wanting and having a child, but in the end it all makes her want a child more. She ends the song with a hopeful lyric: “And when you decide it's your time to arrive / I've loved you for all of my life / And nothing could stop me from giving a try / I've loved you for all of my life”. This is a stand out song on the album because of how raw it is. Halsey has called it the most personal song on the album.

I love anything Halsey does. A part of me was worried I would feel obligated to like this album because I like her. That wasn’t the case though. I genuinely like this album. I like 14 of the 16 songs. I like the storytelling. I like know more about Halsey’s life. I just don’t find myself listening to it all the time. There are some albums that come out and they are the only thing I listen to. They are the first thing I click on when I open AppleMusic and, if the song isn’t over, I’ll stay in my car to listen to when I get to my destination. I don’t find myself reaching for this album as much as I reach for other albums. When I do listen to it, I enjoy my time and I sing along to every song, but there is something about it (or not about it) that makes other albums my first choice. Perhaps it could be the heaviness of the album.

Overall, Manic by Halsey is a great edition to her discography. It’s a very “Halsey” album because it’s nothing like she’s done before, and that’s what she thrives on. These songs will be so fun to scream back at her, if she ever decides to come to Columbus. For now, I’ll just have to stick to listening to it in my car and on the radio. The level of personalness exhibited in this album makes me respect Halsey more. She opened up her heart and poured it out into these songs.