Halsey Essentials

In the wake of Lorde and Lana Del Rey, Halsey has helped to shift outcasts and rebels towards pop’s centre with uncompromising lyrics about experiencing youth and then adulthood as an outsider. After a cameo on The Chainsmokers’ 2016 break-up chronicle “Closer” turned them into pop royalty, the following year saw them relitigate past romance failures on 2017’s “Bad at Love” and pine for an absent lover on “Now or Never.” Halsey committed even further to memoir-level self-reflection on open-hearted smashes like 2020’s “You should be sad” before drawing on the transformative journey of pregnancy and motherhood for 2021’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power under the cinematic influence of producers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Three years later, the tellingly titled The Great Impersonator delved into their personal struggles with authenticity on tracks like the strikingly stripped-down “The End”. In the process, they have created a new standard of conversation for fans who see themselves in the pop star’s mould-defying image.