This Friday, the much-awaited debut album Badlands from Ashley Frangipane, or “Halsey,” was released and has been at number two on the iTunes chart since it’s debut. After releasing her EP earlier this year and opening for Imagine Dragons on their tour this summer, Halsey has gained a flock of devoted fans that she readily interacts with at her shows and on social media. From stage diving to private messaging fans on Twitter, Halsey has made it clear that this experience in the spotlight is about her fans. Earlier this summer she even got matching tattoos with three luckily fans she chose through Twitter (Watch this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW3GN24Oey0). Her relationship with her loyal followers is only one small reason why everyone should be paying attention to Halsey.
At only 20 years old, Halsey readily speaks out about a number of issues in interviews, on social media, and in her songs. She addresses issues such as being biracial, feminism, body positivity, her bisexuality and LGBTQ+ rights, and mental illness. She was even called “revolutionary” by CelebMix for being unafraid to write songs that portray a real complexity that is relatable to all listeners.
Badlands is a concept album that was inspired by viewing Las Vegas out an airplane window. It clearly supports her desire to “never be anything but honest” and “write songs about sex and being sad.” If that sounds like it isn’t your style of music I encourage you to listen to any of her songs; from Hurricane, in which she sings, “I’m a wanderess/I’m a one night stand/Don’t belong to no city/Don’t belong to no man” or to the chorus of Control: “I’m bigger than my body/I’m colder than this home/I’m meaner than my demons/I’m bigger than these bones,” or even the dreamy track Drive where she sings, “Your laugh echoes down the hallway/Carves into my hollow chest/Spreads over the emptiness/It’s bliss.”
As someone who has been counting down the days to the release of Badlands since I first discovered Halsey in March of this year, I can tell you that the album does not disappoint. I can also tell you that she possesses an authenticity that you can hear in her songs, see in interactions with fans and performances, and read on her Twitter and in interviews that makes you connect with her. It also makes it clear that she has serious staying power in the music world and will only continue to get the recognition she deserves.