Melissa Kacar

If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power is a largely dark and brooding exploration of femininity, identity, body autonomy, and gender exploration beyond the framework of traditional stereotypes and conventions. There are many aspects of Halsey 's life that informed this conceptual project, but perhaps the most pertinent influence is their own path to motherhood. She has been very open about her health and fertility journey throughout her career, especially in bringing awareness to her endometriosis diagnosis and the miscarriages she has experienced. This album became a bold and honest confrontation of all that society and the world at large place on women, as well as the limitations of her own body as someone living with chronic illness. In January 2021, Halsey announced she was pregnant with her first child, and she gave birth just a month before the album was released. So much of this album is rooted in reclaiming autonomy over her body in the wake of illness, pregnancy, and the ...

"the cure" by Olivia Rodrigo The second single off of Olivia 's you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love is such a cathartic, existential, and melodramatic masterpiece - all of which are traits that have continually made up so much of her best work to date. If the lead single "drop dead" is the embodiment of the girl so in love portion of the album title, then "the cure" in turn feels like the representation of the you seem pretty sad aspect of the time in her life that inspired her to write this. Coming in at the midpoint of the album's tracklist, it's definitely going to serve as a crucial transition piece for the album's overarching narrative. The build‑up to the bridge and the explosive final chorus is absolutely incredible and feels so powerful with every single listen. It's genuinely one of the best songs Olivia has ever written, and also one of the greatest pop songs of recent memory, which is not an overstatement in the slig...

Halsey begins their 2020 album Manic with her name, "Ashley" , and ends it with her birthday, "929", creating a full‑circle narrative arc that beautifully captures just how deeply personal the album is. The closing track is a raw, diaristic look at her life and her journey, told through a free‑flowing, conversational reflection of memories, lessons, and wisdom that she has picked up along the way.  Produced by her frequent collaborators Jasper Sheff and John Cunningham, "929" perfectly encapsulates the personal journey Manic takes the listener on. This record is one of self-discovery and acceptance of every side of yourself, in the most unfiltered way.  "I really was born at 9:29 AM on 9/29, you think I'm lying, but I'm, I'm being dead serious," she jokes in the intro, speaking casually in the studio when working on the album. The rest of the song goes into a stream-of-consciousness style of confessional that is so unguarded and self...

BADLANDS was born out of necessity and a means of escape for Ashley Frangipane, along with the creation of Halsey as a persona she could disappear into. It wasn't just a world she built for herself, but one that allowed those who saw a piece of themselves within the music to escape into as well. That blurred line between who they are and who they perform as has always been central to Halsey's artistry. The dismantling of the divide between the two sides of herself is something she's explored time and time again, especially on albums like  Manic and The Great Impersonator , but it all traces back to BADLANDS, their 2015 debut album. This music allowed Halsey to create a life devoid of expectation, control, and the limitations of reality. It was a place where she was able to reclaim her agency, and the chaos of her inner world would finally be seen, heard and understood.  To have that kind of confidence and clarity of identity at just nineteen years old was rare. Expressi...