It has been several months since the release of Halsey’s third studio album, Manic, a musical account of the different areas of her life, following the patterns of her manic and depressive episodes, products of her bipolar disorder.
After several months of anticipation following the release of the first single, Without Me, the album did not disappoint. With an alternative style that went from rock, to R&B to even country influences, listeners are in for a ride with the highs and the lows of this album.
The first track, Ashley, makes an allusion to the singer’s real name, one by which she has never been named by the general public, introducing fans to a new chapter in her music and suggesting, perhaps, a more intimate and personal approach to the album. The track finishes with a snippet from the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, in which the protagonist, Clementine, defines herself as a “f***ed up girl who is looking for her own piece of mind”, indicative of the route the album is going to follow.
This dialogue introduces the next song, clementine, one that had previously been released as a single, and which makes allusions to the mental illness that Halsey has been battling ever since she was a teenager. This song is connected to track number 3 through their music videos: Graveyard follows Halsey and a lover, who dissipates in her memory, dragging her to the aquarium in which the clementine video is located. In Graveyard, Halsey explores the codependence she has felt with some of her ex-partners, giving everything for the sake of the relationship even when she, herself, could notice it was toxic, vowing to follow her partner to the graveyard.
Track number 4 is one of the most controversial ones on the album. Directly addressed to her famous ex-boyfriend rapper G-Eazy, Halsey writes a chronicle of their relationship and the many opportunities she gave him, trying to fix him, for it to work. With statements such as “you’re not half the man you think that you are/and you can’t fill the hole inside of you/with money, drugs and cars” or “I’m so glad I’ve never had a baby with you/‘cause you can’t love nothing unless there’s something in it for you”, You Should Be Sad is the angriest track on the entire record, in contrast with the more vulnerable tracks that feature a darker, sadder Halsey who wishes to do anything to fix her relationships.
The next 3 tracks, as said by the artist herself, come in together. Forever…(is a long time), Dominic’s Interlude and I HATE EVERYBODY give us Halsey’s perspective when approaching new, seemingly non-toxic relationships, which she deems as unfit for her and finds ways to ruin them before they happen. The concluding song, I HATE EVERYBODY begins with the words “I’m my own biggest enemy” therefore referencing that whenever something good happens to her, she manages to break it.
As opposed to the fast-paced but sad-lyric-filled I HATE EVERYBODY, 3 a.m. recounts the various nights in which the singer found comfort in strangers, relying on them to make her feel better about herself. It is also a tale of modern love, as she sings “I need it digital/’cause baby, when it’s physical I end up alone”.
3 a.m. is followed by lead single Without Me, a really vulnerable track that speaks about falling out of love with someone who is hurting you. This comes in contrast with Finally // beautiful stranger, a track about falling in love with a person that, finally, seems to be the one – erasing every mistake she has made in the past regarding relationships.
The theme of the album seems to break with an interlude/song/interlude trio. The first one, featuring Alanis Morissette, speaks about sexual freedom and the rejection of labels regarding love “’cause he is, she is her/and her and he are love/and I have never felt the difference”. Halsey has been particularly open about her bisexuality and is considered by many, an LGBT icon. The following track, killing boys, begins with a snippet of a conversation between an infamous female couple, from the movie Jennifer’s Body, tying this song to the previous narrative. The song, once again, is marked by the deep feelings of anger and regret and, finally, those of self-worth and powerfulness when she realizes that she has everything she needs in herself. This theme is, once again, broken by a new interlude, featuring SUGA from BTS and named SUGA’s interlude, giving space for slower songs, once again.
After this brief return to an angry state, Halsey closes up the album with three very personal and deep tracks. More, specifically, relates the struggles of the singer with endometriosis, and speaks about a child that she longs for but she has never been able to have after her previous three abortions. The ending of the song has been produced to sound as a sonogram, symbolizing that the entire song Halsey has dedicated to her future child “[To] someone in the universe who doesn’t exist yet. But will one day…” speaking of how much she wants and loves them already. Following this track, Still Learning takes us to the backstage of her seemingly perfect life, explaining to the listeners her lack of self-esteem and saying sorry to those people she loves, because despite loving them deeply, she is still learning to give that love to herself.
The closing track, 929, is delivered in a stream-of-consciousness manner in which (beginning with the lyric “well, who am I?”) the singer explores her own identity as well as the challenges and important lessons that she takes with her.
Not many artists have had the guts or the talent to produce such raw, honest and real albums. Despite having been written entirely during her manic stages, the singer strips down completely to give a glimpse of her life, her troubles and her soul for the listeners to identify with and, maybe, have a little more empathy with her and other fellow artists as well.