“Manic” by Halsey

By Katelyn Anderson

Halsey shares a new, vulnerable side of herself with her album “Manic,” which has 16 tracks. According to Halsey, “Manic” is her most honest and raw album. The cover art shows “H3 A01” to represent her third album as Halsey and the first album as Ashley, Halsey’s real name. This suggests that Halsey is opening up and showing her true self, rather than hiding behind the cover of the name Halsey.

“Manic” tells the story of Halsey and is meant to be listened to from beginning to end. The story aspect is shown by continuing lines, ideas, or music between songs. An example is that the last line of the track “Forever ... (is a long time)” shows up many times in “Dominic’s Interlude” and the music from “Dominic’s Interlude” meshes together with “I HATE EVERYBODY” seamlessly. Other songs also show this attempt to create a storyline. At the end of the song “3am,” there is a phone message from John Mayer talking about the success of “Without Me,” which is the next track.

The album is unique; every song has a different style. Halsey pulls from country, alternative, rock, and pop for each song and makes something new out of it. Halsey stays true to her pop style in songs like “Without Me” and “Graveyard,” which were her first two singles. A country-esque song, “You should be sad” also appears on the album. There are also songs with an alternative and rock style, such as “clementine,” “3am,” and “I HATE EVERYBODY.”

Halsey explores new sounds in her album, while also opening up about her life. “Manic” tells a new story and shows a new side to her.