Recommended songs: “Afraid of the Dark (Demo),” “Alice of the Upper Class,” “Nothing!”
Artists you may like: Camila Cabello, Selena Gomez, Alessia Cara
Singer-songwriter Halsey has released the deluxe version of her fifth studio album The Great Impersonator. The Great Impersonator (Deluxe) includes seven new tracks that further dive into Halsey’s experimental expression of her personal story and where she is in her life’s journey.
The Great Impersonator found Halsey at her most untethered, bringing her audience through different eras in music. Halsey embodied musicians like Britney Spears, Aaliyah, Bruce Springsteen, Dolores O’Riordan and more. Every track chronicled pieces of her tumultuous life behind the glitz and glamour of being a well-known artist. In the deluxe version, she goes even further.
The deluxe album tracks begin with “Lucid,” an ethereal pop-rock anthem about Halsey’s fans. The song was unreleased prior to her For My Last Trick Tour, and she performed it for the first time in Ridgefield, WA, last June. The track is full of energy and probes fans with the questions, “Are you lucid?/ Will you remember me?”. “Lucid” seems to display an underlying fear that fans may have forgotten about her during her silence while she was fighting for her life behind the scenes.
“Carry the Weight” truly encompasses the bitter aftermath of a broken relationship. Halsey stands in her strength and shows her partner the door without a second thought. The lyrics demonstrate resolve and a refusal to accept or stay in a toxic relationship as Halsey sings in the chorus; “I could run away if I want to / And I’m not gonna stay, but I want you to know / I’ve been okay since I lost you / You just made a mistake and I want you to go.” This track is a testament to Halsey’s growth in the area of love and relationships, empowering listeners to do what is best for them, as well.
The next track, “Lessons,” was originally a bonus track included in an exclusive 80’s digital download of The Great Impersonator that was available for only 24 hours back in October 2024. It’s a very calm, introspective song during which listeners can empathize with feeling like you are stuck in a loop of the same events that you thought you had learned from the first time you experienced them.
“Afraid of the Dark (Demo)” is a stripped down and raw song that finds Halsey at her most introspective and self-critical. There is something charming about the demo, with the unpolished nature of it adding a character to the album that deepens the narrative that was apparent in the original album. The haunting piano complements Halsey’s voice, and the lyrics paint the painful picture of a person who has trouble accepting who they turned out to be, even if that person is authentically themselves.
“Alice of the Upper Class” is a pop-punk bonus track from the Y2K limited digital release that came out in 2024. The song is a critique of capitalism and how it permeates and corrupts the American Dream. “Alice of the Upper Class” is one of those tracks that pulls no punches. Halsey demonstrates her disdain with lyrics such as “Like Alice through the looking glass / I’m tired of the upper class / I wanna go back.” The song is a fun nod to the ethos that inspired pop-punk music.
“Nothing!” is an acoustic-driven single that begins stripped down and opens up to simple percussion at the climax. It portrays Halsey leaving the relationship she thought would be the end game, while still displaying her fears about doing so and how she feels like she’ll have nothing after the relationship ends. At its core, “Nothing!” is an illustration of wholeheartedly giving oneself to love, but ultimately feeling empty due to the way one gives too much to the partnership.
The last track of The Great Impersonator (Deluxe) is “Charades,” a country-pop song that was an exclusive digital track for the 70’s version of the digital standard album. “Charades” tells the story of how Halsey completely hid the fact that she was battling serious illnesses — SLE (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus) and T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder — until the release of her song “The End.” The song showcases that Halsey has nothing left to lose at this point in time as she “acts out” in a big game of “charades” with her latest two releases.
Overall, The Great Impersonator (Deluxe) further strengthens the original album released in 2024. Every track is completely different from the one that precedes it. The deluxe album wraps up Halsey’s journey up to this point with an honest and hopeful air that listeners will catch if they listen close enough.
Be sure to give The Great Impersonator (Deluxe) a listen!
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