ALBUM REVIEW: Halsey // Badlands

Singer and song-writer Ashley Frangipane, best known by stage name Halsey, recently released her debut studio album Badlands in August.

When first beginning to listen to Halsey, it wasn’t that I wasn’t a fan, but more so that I didn’t want to be a fan. I was not attracted to the idea of Halsey or her unapologetic behavior she tried to showcase. Some songs suited no purpose other than to sound good.

With that in mind as I plugged in my head phones I let the first two songs, “Castle” and “Hold Me Down” go in one ear and straight out of the other. My closed-mindedness towards Halsey was soon put to rest and I found myself engaged with either her lyrics, melody, or both in the following songs through the album.

By the second run of the album I already knew some of the lyrics and caught myself murmuring the lyrics to myself and moving my shoulders around as if I were trying my hardest not to break into dance right there on a public bus.  Not only can she relate to teenagers but a generation above us will undoubtedly agree that Halsey has an amazing voice. She chose a melody that worked best with her voice and stuck with it.

Repetition seems like a big thing throughout her songs. I felt that she repeated phrases three or four times in a row and that can be a good thing or a bad thing; either way the lyrics are very easy to remember and in some cases significant even to a plain Jane.

Another thing Halsey kept using was long pauses. These could have intended to be pauses for dramatic effect but there were times I had to double check I didn’t accidentally pause the song without noticing.

The more I listen to Halsey’s album, the more fond of the songs I become. Halsey is the kind of artist who carries a sense of carelessness that you almost admire with an album like Badlands that you can’t help but leave on repeat.

Find out more about Halsey below:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/halsey
Instagram: http://instagram.com/iamhalsey