Halsey is back with her fifth album, The Great Impersonator. The singer known for hits such as ‘Eastside’ and ‘Without Me’ is back with even more personal songs detailing her health issues and how they’ve impacted her perspective on the past, the present, and the future.
Every track on the album is inspired by a different musical artist. In a series of Instagram posts, Halsey dressed up like each artist and explained how the artist inspired her. Her inspirations included Cher, Bruce Springsteen, and David Bowie.
The album itself includes many different sounds which align with her inspirations. Some of the inspirations are more obvious than others, ‘Panic Attack’ is inspired by Stevie Nicks, and has a 70’s witchy feel to it, which Nicks is known for, while ‘Letter to God (1998)’ takes inspiration from Aaliyah, specifically the track, ‘Are You That Somebody?’ which uses baby noises (made by Halsey’s son) much like its influence does.
The highlight of the album is each ‘Letter to God.’ There are three on the album, but they are not redundant. Each of the three renditions addresses Halsey’s relationship with death and her illness, the lyrics are open and raw and the production is minimal allowing for her true emotions to come through. Moody lyrics are a constant throughout the album, which makes sense considering the health crisis Halsey experienced.
We asked Hillcrest sophomore, Ariana Beauvais if she would ever listen to the album, and she responded, “Yes because I’m always open to new music.” If you’re also someone who enjoys new music from many different genres, then this is the project for you.
Overall, I would give the album an 8/10 because the concept itself is unique and was mostly well executed, but there were some weaker parts where the influence was unclear and not completely thought through. The album has something for everyone and keeps the listeners on their toes.
