Mildly surprised no thread -- anyway, bring on the goths.
If I Can’t Have Love, I Want PowerThe FOURTH album by HalseyProduced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross pic.twitter.com/BbUx2htDkY— h (@halsey) June 28, 2021
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 28 June 2021 17:47 (three years ago) link
only if the goths have a lozenge
― an eco-conscious Music Box (DJP), Monday, 28 June 2021 17:51 (three years ago) link
Gesundheit
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 28 June 2021 17:52 (three years ago) link
think this is exactly the right move for her
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 28 June 2021 18:14 (three years ago) link
Nonsense, we need you to write the liner notes, THEN it's the right move.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 28 June 2021 18:20 (three years ago) link
i have not heard anything she's done since "New Americana", is she still terrible
― self-clowning oven (Murgatroid), Monday, 28 June 2021 19:31 (three years ago) link
i guess she decided poppy needed competition?
― ufo, Tuesday, 29 June 2021 00:21 (three years ago) link
Sounds like something that would be playing in the strip club in an episode of Banshee (a show I am currently binging).
― but also fuck you (unperson), Tuesday, 29 June 2021 00:41 (three years ago) link
"without me" was a v good single imo tho it's not surprising that it was almost never remarked on here -- kind of calibrated to be about as middle-of-the-road as possible while still employing the edgy production trend of its day. nonetheless effective! (to me)
this sounds like it might be shit
― dyl, Tuesday, 29 June 2021 02:32 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i45PAqrGDLc
optimistic about this, both this & the other clip sound very NIN & they've been in a great place as of late
― ufo, Friday, 30 July 2021 04:17 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5TVJxBlymo
another teaser
https://www.stereogum.com/2158189/halsey-new-album-credits/news/
a few other interesting names in the credits too - buckingham, the bug especially
― ufo, Wednesday, 25 August 2021 13:42 (three years ago) link
Can I just say that "If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power" is an awesome album title?
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 25 August 2021 13:46 (three years ago) link
a few tracks in & this is great, impeccable production of course
― ufo, Thursday, 26 August 2021 14:25 (three years ago) link
"you asked for this" rules but i wish they'd mixed the vocals lower to fully commit to shoegaze
― ufo, Thursday, 26 August 2021 14:30 (three years ago) link
yeah wtf why is this so good
― he ain't perfect but fuck me he's a rheillee (imago), Friday, 27 August 2021 09:11 (three years ago) link
lmao at going straight from a shoegaze blowout to a Blackbird ripoff
― he ain't perfect but fuck me he's a rheillee (imago), Friday, 27 August 2021 12:16 (three years ago) link
but seriously, Darling is such a staggering misstep, there is no need for one of these on the album or on any album
― he ain't perfect but fuck me he's a rheillee (imago), Friday, 27 August 2021 12:18 (three years ago) link
"darling" is good at the thing it does and i was kinda amused they actually got buckingham to play on it too, "never going back again" etc. was what it reminded me of more immediately than "blackbird"
― ufo, Friday, 27 August 2021 12:51 (three years ago) link
but also as good as this album is, it just really makes me want another NIN full-length already
― ufo, Friday, 27 August 2021 12:55 (three years ago) link
they should hire Halsey to write songs for them
― braised cod, Friday, 27 August 2021 13:07 (three years ago) link
I thought this was cool of her
It’s Not Complicated, by Michael Brooks https://t.co/mhVv7QVkNm— h (@halsey) May 13, 2021
― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Friday, 27 August 2021 13:57 (three years ago) link
There were some good moments among the first part of the LP but I got bored with it as it played on. Which happens to me with pop music a lot, I'm afraid - might explain why I don't listen to a lot of it.
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Friday, 27 August 2021 18:16 (three years ago) link
It definitely falls off
― he ain't perfect but fuck me he's a rheillee (imago), Friday, 27 August 2021 20:02 (three years ago) link
yeah i would downgrade it to 'good' overall rather than 'great' but overall it's a success. i want a whole pop-shoegaze album from her now
― ufo, Saturday, 28 August 2021 02:01 (three years ago) link
idk if it's better than Manic, but it's refreshing to hear their songs produced in other than middle-of-the-road-radio-pop mode.
― braised cod, Saturday, 28 August 2021 11:17 (three years ago) link
but on the other hand it's kind of middle-of-the-road alt. rock which might explain why people find it a bit boring?
― braised cod, Saturday, 28 August 2021 11:33 (three years ago) link
It's Trent Reznor, which is why people are really enjoying the first half (+ selected others). NIN is not middle-of-the-road alt rock ffs
― he ain't perfect but fuck me he's a rheillee (imago), Saturday, 28 August 2021 11:41 (three years ago) link
yeah even when it is doing fairly straight-forward rock songs the guitar textures rule etc. it's not really middle-of-the-road, maybe "honey" is the closest to that though? and it's still fine
the slower tracks are the weaker ones because nin's bag of tricks there gets a bit repetitive while the up-tempo tracks are more varied in their approach
― ufo, Saturday, 28 August 2021 11:51 (three years ago) link
Yeah, Girl Is A Gun is kinda outrageous
― he ain't perfect but fuck me he's a rheillee (imago), Saturday, 28 August 2021 11:58 (three years ago) link
Yeah I don't disagree with you, there's plenty of inspired things on this album, and by middle of the road I mainly meant those slower tracks that drag a bit.
― braised cod, Saturday, 28 August 2021 12:14 (three years ago) link
i think ultimately i'd much rather hear nin produce a pop singer who has a much stronger melodic sense, like it's still very clear to me why i wasn't a fan of halsey's previous stuff on this album, it's mostly carried by the production
― ufo, Sunday, 29 August 2021 08:20 (three years ago) link
It's much more a Halsey record than the Nine Inch Nails feat. Halsey I assume some people hoped for. Obv they bring their sound to it, but I wouldn't think that Halsey's old fans would be disappointed by this. I'm not familiar with Reznor/Ross' other production work so I don't know if they were more involved songwriting-wise in those.
― braised cod, Sunday, 29 August 2021 10:32 (three years ago) link
reznor's previous outside production work isn't that extensive. the most notable projects are just the the early marilyn manson albums where he seemed to have played a fairly typical rock producer role (technical skills, a general advisory role, help with arrangements & programming etc.) and then the saul williams album where he was responsible for the entire backing.
on this one, my impression from interviews is halsey had already written most of the album & might have already recorded a near-complete version with other producers, but then gave it to reznor & ross to completely re-record & re-arrange, so it was much more nin arranging around halsey's vocal parts rather than halsey writing to nin's instrumentals.
― ufo, Sunday, 29 August 2021 10:49 (three years ago) link
thanks. I didn't know any of this. Them re-working a near-complete album makes sense.
― braised cod, Sunday, 29 August 2021 11:09 (three years ago) link
halsey writing colors about matty healy is so funny. when she sings “your mother only smiles on her tv show” she’s talking about loose women— baby annette (@evemmore) August 27, 2021
― fc_TEFH28mo (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Sunday, 29 August 2021 15:58 (three years ago) link
Multiple googles to understand that tweet
― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Sunday, 29 August 2021 18:17 (three years ago) link
I occasionally listen to the alternative nation station on Sirius, if only to try to get a handle on what appellation has meant for the past 10 years, what aesthetic unites the Imagine dragons/foster the people/young the giant cohort, why young people would listen to music as such instead of Lil baby — and I am reminded of an interview with the program director of both LA K-rock and of NYC k-rock, where in trying to say what alternative music means now, he stated that "rock" shouldn't be appended to alt and that Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey do not fit in with it, the demo he's going for doesn't fuck with them, they're pop, etc etc…
And so I'm listening to the sirius station yesterday, and "you asked for this" did a fucking roundhouse kick out of the car's speakers relative to the dull shit I had heard for the previous hour… I'm kinda surprised that commercial radio pros like the guy I mention above would go with this song so quickly. like they would be "our audience doesn't care if halsey is trying to be like My Bloody Valentine, she's the same as Demi Lovato, we're not playing her"…
― veronica moser, Wednesday, 1 September 2021 14:08 (three years ago) link
where in trying to say what alternative music means now, he stated that "rock" shouldn't be appended to alt and that Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey do not fit in with it, the demo he's going for doesn't fuck with them, they're pop, etc etc…
what does 'alternative music' actually mean according to this guy then if not rock & not the billie/lana alt- end of pop because i feel like either of those should mean excluding imagine dragons-type shit too
― ufo, Wednesday, 1 September 2021 14:20 (three years ago) link
interview with the guy was in NYT, don't have the time to find link, but the guy was pretty incoherent, trying to square circles according to corporate prerogatives…
― veronica moser, Wednesday, 1 September 2021 14:47 (three years ago) link
i love this album it is awesome
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Wednesday, 1 September 2021 16:45 (three years ago) link
If you have an hourhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If25K-dtvgg
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 4 September 2021 14:21 (three years ago) link
I’m sure someone else has said this, but it’s as if Reznor and Ross heard Jack Antonoff’s produced records and decided to compete. Really love this on headphones on the first listen (and only knowing Halsey from the Chainsmokers song, didn’t expect to).
― ... (Eazy), Sunday, 5 September 2021 21:19 (three years ago) link
Pretty sure this is the article VM mentioned above (I remember us discussing it on another thread)
― tumblin’ dice outro (morrisp), Sunday, 5 September 2021 23:22 (three years ago) link
On-U remix ! trent drags his old production guru back into the mainstream for the first time in a very long time.have only been able to check it out via spotify and my crappy laptop speakers as no option yet to buy this other than via itunes.it is of course rather brilliant.hopefully i will be able to buy it digitally via non-itunes options at some point.
― mark e, Thursday, 30 September 2021 17:41 (three years ago) link
Finally gave this a listen, it's good! I have no idea where Halsey fits into the music world. Is she a pop star? Did this come and go with nary a ripple?
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 16 January 2022 18:43 (two years ago) link
The singles didn’t do so well. But her older songs are still on the radio all the time.
― Chappies banging dustbin lids together (President Keyes), Sunday, 16 January 2022 20:21 (two years ago) link
I was intrigued by the prospect of it - NIN-produced pop - but aspects of the record came off as Downward Spiral cosplay, without pushing hard enough in any one direction, pop or abrasive textures
Turns out that Manic is a better record
Nevertheless, it's fun that Kevin Martin and Jack Dangers had elements on a Halsey record
― Freeze Instr., Sunday, 16 January 2022 21:07 (two years ago) link
i think this is her best record. i struggled to make it through her previous ones
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Sunday, 16 January 2022 21:26 (two years ago) link
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Wednesday, September 1, 2021 9:45 AM (four months ago) bookmarkflaglink
I heard Honey played on pop radio at one point. I liked the fact that it didn't sound like anything else around it, more like something that would have been on KROQ in the 90s, something almost Cure-like about it, but I imagine that weighed against it getting playlisted like, say, Graveyard, which was played on infinite loop.
― Freeze Instr., Sunday, 16 January 2022 22:51 (two years ago) link
Has there ever been such a humiliating, unequivocal, withdrawal-from-Kabul-level surrender than the shift from the last album to the new single?
― Tim F, Sunday, 28 July 2024 22:43 (two months ago) link
i dunno...i don't like "Lucky," was never a big fan of the Britney song either, but it seems like the Britney track held significance for her and this was still kind of a personal choice as much as anything else she's made. i love If I Can't Have Love way more than her other stuff, but it always seemed like a one-off, i'd be happy if "So Good" was an indication of her future music.
― some dude, Sunday, 28 July 2024 23:51 (two months ago) link
eh this sounds very much like your typical a&r'd early 2020s "let's make sure to remind aging millennial listeners of at least 3 different songs they liked as kids so it can hopefully be a radio hit" concoction
― dyl, Monday, 29 July 2024 21:04 (two months ago) link
also not fond of that britney song
or any halsey songs except for "without me" aka the generic smash that probably would have been a hit for anyone
― dyl, Monday, 29 July 2024 21:05 (two months ago) link
1.
omw to the halsey nyc listening event to do an observational study on stan dynamics— hailey (@hahlys) September 8, 2024
2.
it gets worse actually because there is video evidence of this happening https://t.co/xIvUz9qpvu pic.twitter.com/idPF62l24S— hailey (@hahlys) September 13, 2024
― StanM, Friday, 27 September 2024 08:53 (one week ago) link