If I can't have love, I want power: Album review

First of all, can we talk about that title? and the album cover? It carries a lot of weight and certainly makes you curious about the album, and as someone who adores Halsey, I think I would say this concept is very her.

DISCLAIMER: I am not going to review all the songs.

Halsey goes by the pronouns she/they

The album opens with 'the tradition' which is a way to introduce you to the theme of the album and what you are about to get into. one of the many things Halsey knows how to do is make a good opening track. 'the prologue' from HFK is a prime example. It has this very old, or should I say vintage sound which I wouldn't normally like, but they make it work. The lyrics talk about a woman being dressed up and made pretty to be sold, but then returned because of how dark she is inside. It is a message to do what you want and ask for forgiveness later.

I really like it when songs flow from one to another. It's like one big song with different parts. This is what you expect from a conceptual album like this one. It really does tie it all together.

Halsey does rock really well, and ‘Easier than lying’ and ‘honey’ are prime examples. honey tells the story of those adventurous and confident girls that are exciting to be with and I think it sounds like a cross between ‘3am‘ and ’Alanis interlude’ from the Manic album. The screaming at the end of Easier than lying, could it get more rock than that? Amazing production on both of them too.

Lilith would be top 3 on my list if I was to rank the tracks. Has a good beat, and was the perfect track to calm you down after easier than lying. It talks about being self-destructive and doubting if you ever even wanted someone in the first place. The flow into 'girl is a gun'?

The fast-paced tempo of girl is a gun was exactly what you'd expect for a song with that title. That synth made it sound like a song from the early 2000s and I felt very nostalgic.

The one word I would use to describe 'Darling' is 'sweet' it feels like taking a walk in a garden lined with sunflowers. It is a lullaby to her child and that makes it even more wholesome.

'until it's time to see the light, I'll make my own with you each night. I'll kidnap all the stars and I will keep them in your eyes' - Loved these particular lyrics. And the soft guitar acoustics tied the song together.

I resonate a lot with the lyrics of 'Whispers'. It talks about those voices of doubt that we get when we're in good places, emotionally. The voices that tell you 'you do not want this' She references her bipolar disorder as a monster that eats personality types and changes her mind on the daily. I think her actually whispering the voices of self-doubt was so smart because then it's more realistic and scary.

The punk and gritty 'Lighhouse' talks about them being 'stranded on the shoreline in the middle of the deep end' and becoming independent and daring. The outro was so good that I could listen to it on loop for hours. The translation for 'Ya'aburnee' isn’t very direct but it in Arabic basically means ‘you bury me’

Meaning you hope to die before that person because you cannot bear to live without them, we often hear of mother's hoping their children outlive them or partners wanting to die than watch the other die.

This word is forever going to stick with me because it is a concept I've had with me for a long time, and I did not even know there was a word for it.

It is a dark concept when you really look at it, but love can be dark.

The lyrics to this song are so beautiful that I teared up a little, it’s like a poem to someone you deeply love and care for. Halsey's soft voice and the calm guitar strum made it come together perfectly and I think I can say it is my favorite song on the album.

‘I'll never know

If there's danger in confession

Or it's memory that presses

Like a blade against my throat

Another word and I could choke

But what's worse?

Tellin' you my feelings

Or to die without revealing

That you crawled inside my head

And set a fire there instead?’

-Ya’aburnee by Halsey From Genius.com

If I could paste the whole verse, I would. I am such a sucker for love.

This project showed how much Halsey has grown from their previous albums, I have been following their journey since Hopeless fountain Kingdom, and to grow from singing to a child you yearn for to singing to a child you have is enough to make a grown woman cry. They said they wanted to capture the joys and horrors of pregnancy and this album definitely had joys and horrors. It is a well-planned album, and I find no faults in it. I would rank the songs but to rank means some would have to be at the bottom, and there are no bottoms songs.

Definitely a 10/10