“Maniac” Halsey Album Review

Halsey is a pop musician who is known for her indie style and writing her own songs. She has released three albums including her newest one, “Maniac.” She is most known for her songs “Without Me,” “Bad At Love,” and her feature in “Closer” which is co-sung by the Chainsmokers. 

Her artistic career started out when she was writing poetry, but when she realized that if she wanted to get people to pay attention to her, she would have to learn to play music in order to appeal to the media. At one point she met a producer who enjoyed her music, and one night after releasing her first songs, she got an assortment of record deals. Halsey then went on to produce and release her debut album “Badlands” in August of 2015. In 2017, she released her second album “Hopeless Fountain Kingdom.” In January of this year, she released her third album “Maniac.”

Even though Halsey is now very successful and wealthy, she had a difficult childhood. When she was growing up she struggled with mental illness along with a handful of other burdens. The biggest challenge she faced was depression that led to her attempting to take her own life. 

Once she joined the music world it was as if she was given a new assortment of burdens to hold in addition to her past. These included insults and critiques about the type of person she was as she defined herself with many controversial terms. 

Her new album was able to reach the second slot on the Billboard 200. There were four singles released before the album was fully released: “clementine,” “Graveyard,” “SUGA’s Interlude,” and “Finally // beautiful stranger.” Then the album was dropped on January 17, 2020.

The album’s overall feeling is somber. The beat is slow in most of the songs and even when the music does get a bit faster, the lyrics are always sad enough to tear the mood down. It seems like the music is not heavily produced to sound perfect, but instead, it is natural and authentic. Halsey also expresses a lot of emotion in her tone of singing that consequently makes the listener feel emotional like in the song “3am”.

“This was one of the rawest albums I’ve ever listened to. It honestly felt like I was listening to something I wasn’t supposed to, like a diary,” said Megan Ashley, 10. “I also thought it was really interesting that she included people from different genres, even k-Pop, in the album.” 

The album’s songs include features from the artists Dominic Fike, Alanis Morissette, SUGA, and BTS. Something that makes it feel so genuine and personal is the audio entries of her bare voice inserted at the beginnings or ends of some songs. The compilation of songs is so effective in giving off a certain sensation of sadness and emotion that it is truly a masterpiece. If you are looking for something sorrowful and honest, “Maniac” is the right album.