2015 Oct 2
by Akansha Naraindas
Music, sexuality, relationships, body image, Halsey—nee Ashley Frangipane—is the lastest newbie on the pop block, but the 20-year-old speaks frankly, unapologetically and and no topic of out of bounds.
“Halsey’s larger-than-life vision combines the synthy darkness of Lorde, the neon-pop chutzpah of Miley Cyrus and the flickering film noir of Lana Del Rey. ”
She struggles with bipolar disorder and states that she will not be a victim of her own mind, in a way it does in fact humanize her characteristics far more, making her music more raw and relatable as well as addictive.
Her lyrical fluidity is what causes her fans to crave her new music. The pale- grunge tumblresque prognostic emanates successfully through most of her music and her videos, unique to most artists of today, However very reminiscent to the likes of Nirvana and My Chemical Romance which is a rarity to witness at this day and age.
“You were red
And you liked me because I was blue
But you touched me, and suddenly I was a lilac sky
Then you decided purple just wasn’t for you” (Colours – Halsey)
On Badlands
When questioned about inspiration for her new music the artist simply said “Every song I write is autobiographical and is about people, and that’s one of the things that gets complicated. You have to decide where’s your place as a songwriter. I hate limiting myself, and I hate censoring myself, but every now and then, I’ll write a line and be like, “Oh no, I can’t do that.” But, I pushed it a little far with that with Badlands. I really did. I really pushed it. Room 93 was a little more anonymous. I sent a song to someone last night and was like, “This song’s about you.” That’s never something I would’ve have done with Room 93. “Hurricane” is about my friend Zach. He was an older guy I was seeing. He lived in Brooklyn on Halsey Street.”
New Americana
“We’re a community. They made me a leader when I never asked…” she opens the clip, over shots of a grainy deserted mountain. “We were hopeful we would win because nothing could scare us, we feared no city, and we feared no man.”
The music video opens with a dramatic dialogue and this femme warrior vibe follows through the entirety of the video presenting a group of rebels very similar to those in the Hunger games; depicting Halsey as the Katniss Everdeen of the momentum. Although cheesy at some parts the artist does successfully bring out the seriousness of the situation and struggle
“It’s this idea of these kids who are part of a generation where pop culture is so heavily influential that diversity doesn’t scare them the way it scared our parents and their parents. We’re more accepting of different walks of life,” Halsey told us. “So I think the ’New Americana’ is racially ambiguous, people who are proud of their culture and they own it, possibly not from a binary of gender.”
