“What if I debuted in the early 2000’s? The ‘90s? The ‘80s? The ‘70s? Am I still Halsey every time?” This is the question, delivered in an August Instagram post, that set the stage for Halsey’s fifth record The Great Impersonator.
Since her 2014 debut EP Room 93, Halsey has remained a shapeshifter. She has been a cursive-tongued enchantress (Room 93), a blue-haired Tumblr cool girl (Badlands), a Shakespearean-inspired pop darling (Hopeless Fountain Kingdom), a meticulous self-examiner (Manic) and a forever changed new mother (If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power). Most recently, the singer has taken on several new forms — 18 to be exact.
Over the course of October, Halsey has posted photos of herself online recreating images of who she identifies as key influences for her latest album. Everyone from Stevie Nicks to Dolly Parton, Kate Bush to Aaliyah, David Bowie to (an unfortunately over-airbrushed ode to) Britney Spears has gotten the Halsey treatment. Not to mention, the 21-year-old Halsey who released her moody debut LP Badlands has even been given the re-up. Some have expressed their critiques of this impersonation online, and others have lauded it and joined in on the joke.
But Instagram theatrics aside, The Great Impersonator is a ball of existentialist anxiety that fluctuates between undeniably catch hooks and sprawling, messy contemplations. It’s chaotic, at times anxiety-inducing, surprisingly paired back sonically, and seems to be the exact album Halsey needed to make.
The Great Impersonator follows 2021’s brilliant If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, (produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails), the birth of Halsey’s first child and a 2022 diagnosis of lupus and a rare T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder. Safe to say, the singer has undoubtedly been through more than most within the last few years. Singles “Lucky,” a rework of Britney Spears’ 2000 hit of the same name, and “Ego,” a ‘90s-inspired jam, set the existentialist tone of the album ahead of its release. As she sings in her string-forward rendition of “Lucky,” “And I told everybody I was fine for a whole damn year / And that’s the biggest lie of my career,” she juxtaposes such startling admissions with the porcelain smile of “But I’m so lucky, I’m a star,” just as Spears did 24 years ago.
The majority of the LP follows “Lucky’s” footing, pushing and pulling between glimpses of relief, such as the muffled voices of the singer and her 3-year-old son in “Letter to God (1998),” and the four in the morning contemplative edge of “Life of the Spider (Draft).” The latter of which spins Halsey’s grueling insecurities into an echoing, stream of consciousness tale with cunning admissions such as, “I should be getting better but I’m only getting worse.”
The Great Impersonator remains fairly stripped down and leans more into acoustic territory than any of Halsey’s previous records. In some cases, such as the breezy Fleetwood Mac-inspired “Panic Attack,” the simpler sound makes sense granted the singer’s aim to cover the sonic ground of decades such as the 1970s. Rather than opt for the glimmer of quintessential ‘80s pop, she offers up inspired takes of Kate Bush and Bruce Springsteen in “I Never Loved You” and “Letter to God (1983),” respectively. Halsey’s sonic references pay off most when drawing from the ‘90s and early aughts, with the biting scream-along “Lonely is the Muse,” the brooding warble of “Dog Years,” and the head bang-worthy “Ego,” all of which flirt with the rock sound the singer has an effortless knack for.
Mockery and imitation is often the form that stars lean on when times get tough and the inspiration runs dry. Some artists over utilize samples so much that their own identity dissolves. In Halsey’s case, prescribing the sounds of the past to tell the daunting story of her recent couple of rough years pays off. Upon first listen, the record is like sitting down at a table with a smörgåsbord in front of you, with your senses becoming overstimulated by everything in sight. The Great Impersonator not only tackles four decades revered for their distinct sounds, but simultaneously details familial strains, motherhood, falling in love, heartbreak, sickness, the fear of death and rebirth. Taking the first bite can be intimidating, but upon working your way through, you realize how good it can taste to have a little bit of everything.
Keep up with Halsey on social media: Instagram // Youtube // Website // X // Tiktok
