by Begum Keskin

I first listened to Halsey in my high school years and being an edgy rebellious teenager, “New Americana,” used to make me shout out the lyrics “Raised on Biggie and Nirvana-” simple lyrics to illustrate a lot of modern-day teenagers. Her first two albums, Badlands and Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, definitely had their own characters. The albums were telling novel-like stories cohesive songs. That’s why Manic sounded different to me, especially when I was expecting something too unreal due to its name. It sounds too real with little fictional interpretations like her music videos from Hopeless Fountain Kingdom.

Apparently, this is exactly what Halsey expected everyone to think. In her Apple Music interview, she says that the public perception of the word mania in the media is like “self-destructive, unsure, irresponsible,” thus why she wrote “Nightmare.” However, her personal experiences with mania are nothing like that and she is trying to convey that to her fans with this album.

The album opens up with her self-titled song “Ashley” with producers like Benny Blanco, Cashmere Cat, Alex Young, and Brenton Duvall. Ironically, it’s the most “Halsey” sounding song in the album, making fans think of Badlands. However, even though it sounds like Badlands, the song's purpose is to introduce her real identity as Ashley, not Halsey.

Her second single from the album “Graveyard” is about toxic relationships which is a common theme in her songs. She sums up the whole song when she says “The warning signs can feel like they're butterflies,” which almost makes the listener question themselves as love can really make people blind. This song, also, makes the fans think that it might be about her ex, G-Eazy, and the following track confirms that.

“You Should be Sad '' might be the most different sounding song in the album as it has some country vibes and is produced by Greg Kurstin. As this is her last single from the album, Halsey did not forget to diss G-Eazy one last time as she did before with “Without Me,” and in her feature with Post Malone “Die For Me.” I have to say that I like this song only because she takes a jab at G-Eazy in a kind of savage but calm way, cause why not?

The next three songs are a trio that is supposed to be listened to respectively which serves as a transition in the album as Halsey mentions. The first song “Forever … (is a long time),” which is ironically produced by her and her ex Lido, is about falling in love. It starts with twinkling tones that sound sweet and optimistic as she says “So I could look inside his eyes and get the colors just right.” But then it switches to anxious and scary sounds with the piano riff as she says “How could somebody ever love me? Talk to your man, tell him he's got bad news coming,” which depicts some aspects of mania.

The second song of the trio, “Dominic’s Interlude,” is not sung by Halsey, but instead by Dominic Fike. The song is trying to depict a brotherly and protecting kind of love. It’s a warning about her relationship from a brother or friend. The song quickly transitions to the third song “I HATE EVERYBODY,” which includes Billie Eilish’s brother and producer FINNEAS. Unlike the name of the song, the song sounds calm. It’s about insecurities that rise with mania and also being young. “If I could make you love me maybe you could make me love me,” says Halsey in the song which is the most common mistake that everyone makes in relationships, believing that everything is going to be perfect that once someone loves them. 

The next song “3am,” also produced by FINNEAS, has a similar concept to the previous track but more vigor to it with its rock tunes and it’s quite fun to listen to. It’s about not being able to be with yourself because you can’t love yourself and the need to hear and feel loved even when you know it’s fake. Then “Without Me” comes which is one my favorite songs in the album and her most successful single to this day. I think the lyrics and the way she sings angrily are the perfect combination of being sad and angry over an ex and just make me shout out the lyrics with her. 

“killing boys” is fun with its carefree tone. The song starts with lines from the movie Jennifer’s Body. Amanda Seyfried starts saying “You're killing people” with dread and Megan Fox simply corrects her saying “No, I'm killing boys,” adding “Boys are just placeholders, they come and they go.” Rest of the song is somewhat similar with amusing lyrics like “I'm breakin' the glass then I stop, 'cause I don't wanna Uma Thurman your ass.” Any girl who’s recently been cheated on will love this song for sure.

One of the very serious and personal songs in the album is “More.” At first, fans might think it’s about an ex once again but with the nursery-rhyme-like sounds in the middle, you can understand that it’s actually about her miscarriages. Due to her endometriosis and past experiences with drugs, Halsey has learned that there is a little possibility that she could ever be a mom as she says “there's no hope in store” too. The following track “Still Learning,” which gives credit to Ed Sheeran as one of the writers, is one of my favorites in the album. The track welcomes Ed Sheeran’s style as it reminds me of “Shape Of You” with its upbeat tempo. The song basically is about having troubles with self-esteem and self-love, like her previous songs in the album, even though she is famous, successful and loved by millions.

The closing track “929” gets its name from her birth date and time which is 9:29 AM on 9/29 and, musically, the simplest song in the album. The whole song is 3 to 5 notes of guitar strings and the lyrics, which sound like confessions, stand out. She confesses a lot of things about herself, flaws, desires, exes and family as if she’s writing in her diary.

She is able to show a different and genuine side of mania in which emotions can be overwhelming and difficult to understand. She also shows the fans that she has matured up with her fans since Badlands. However, the album does sound different than her usual songs and tones. If you’re looking for something like her previous works, I have to admit that you’ll be disappointed. However, if you’re open to artists experimenting with new styles, then I’d say give every song a shot cause they all sound different from each other. And if you’re a Halsey fan, you’ll definitely see a new, different side of Halsey and almost get to know her real personality unlike her previous albums in which she only told about her experiences.