Halsey’s debut album opens doors for future success
September 22, 2015
Halsey, also known as Ashley Frangipane, is an up-and-coming 20-year old musician from Washington, New Jersey. Her debut album, Badlands was released on Aug. 28. The album reached number two on the Billboard 200 and Top Album Sales, as well as reaching number one on the Alterative Albums chart. This was not her first music release, however: her EP Room 93 was released in October of 2014.
The EP featured songs such as “Ghost” and “Hurricane”, which carry over as tracks on Badlands as well. Although it was pleasing to hear some of her first releases on her debut album, as a fan, the songs have become a bit too familiar and definitely fade into the background compared to the newer songs.
Other tracks such as “Hold Me Down” and “Colors” have been performed live prior to the album release, yet no studio version was available. It was exciting to hear the studio version of a song that I have only heard performed live before. “Hold Me Down” is more of an upbeat track that I suspect would do well on the radio as a single.
One of the more interesting tracks on the album is “Colors pt.II”, a sort of remix of the previous track “Colors”. The song contains close to no lyrics, but the rhythm is very calming, making it one of my favorites.
“Gasoline” and “Drive” have a very similar feel, both with impeccable lyrics and a unique musical backing. “Drive” is probably my favorite track on the album because it contains the sounds of a car within the musical backing, which is very artistically creative. The song features fellow artist Lido on the chorus, which adds an interesting harmony that nicely accompanies Halsey’s vocals. The song has a very Las Vegas feel to it and is overall quite peaceful.
“Coming Down” and “I Walk The Line” are the two slower tracks on the album. Both songs are quite simple, with the lyrics in “Coming Down” being almost identical in both verses, with “I Walk The Line” barely reaching two minutes in length. The songs still manage to rise above some of the more pop-oriented tracks of the album such as “Roman Holiday” and “Castle”, which have too much of a pop-feel in comparison to Halsey’s usual alternative genre.
“Young God” is definitely the most explicit track on the album, so I don’t recommend listening if you want to avoid high use of profanity. Other tracks that contain a limited use of profanity are “Strange Love” and “Gasoline”, so be cautious in listening to those tracks as well.
The current single is “New Americana”, which will do well on pop radio as well as the more alternative stations. The song is the perfect teenage anthem, with lyrics such as “we know very well who we are, so we hold it down when summer starts”. The song will probably reach a high place on the iTunes charts as the radio stations continue to play it.
Overall, Badlands is one of my favorite albums that have been released this year. Halsey will only become more popular with time. She will embark on her own tour starting Sept. 30, as well as co-appearing with The Weeknd later on in the year. I definitely recommend listening to this album, it did not disappoint.