Halsey Releases New Album “The Great Impersonator”
American singer-songwriter Halsey released fifth studio album “The Great Impersonator” on October 25, 2024.
It is the first release under her new label Columbia Records.
The album comprises 18 songs, with Halsey drawing inspiration from music spanning the 1970s to the present day.
Leading up to its release, Halsey revealed her impersonations of different icons each day and teased snippets of the songs they inspired, the likes of Dolly Parton, PJ Harvey, Kate Bush, Britney Spears, David Bowie, and more on social media.
The album was recorded from 2022 to 2024 when she was struggling with her lupus and T-cell disorder diagnoses.
Halsey said of the album, “I hope once you listen you will find that behind this theatrical facade, is a record I made in a time of grave existential bewilderment. The album is sad, this is true. It's frenzied and calm all at once somehow. To have it in the world with the knowledge of all that I learned while I was making it, is a profound feeling. I have so many people to thank in the coming days, but first I would like to thank you all for the overwhelming support you have shown it already. It is an honor to here to witness it.”
Halsey told Zane Lowe of Apple Music about album, “I think there is a little bit of a grand narrative about me that's like, 'I don't know what she looks like. I couldn't recognize her on the street because she looks different every time I see her.' Some people get into a creative medium and have a very specific style: 'This is what works for me, this is who I am and what I'm comfortable with.' And for me, I just don't know that it's fun unless I'm reinventing. I think a lot of people see that and get the sense that I don't have a very secure sense of self.”
She continued, “As I get older, I love to write about myself, but I find it boring to talk about myself. So these reinventions give me these little means of escapism—not in the sense of running away, but just telling the story in a different way.”
She added, “I turned 20 as BADLANDS came out, and I’m turning 30 as this record comes out. I had this 10-year plan, but I didn’t really have anything beyond that. I hadn’t really thought about what was going to happen. I used to look at the way that SZA or Frank [Ocean] make records like, ‘Gosh, I could never spend two or three years on an album. I’m so impulsive and impatient and I just want to get it done. Then I spent a long time writing this record and I understood for the first time-oh, the making is the best part.”
Halsey explained track-by-track for the album.
“Only Living Girl in LA” “THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #18: Marilyn Monroe
The most impersonated woman in history. A woman who eventually had to impersonate herself, day after day; asking the question “Want to see me become her?”
“Ego” via Spout Podcast “THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #7: DOLORES O'RIORDAN
Not much transformation necessary here, since I was basically born Dolores' long lost daughter, but I couldn't do the series without honoring this incredible woman.
I think that 'Ego' is definitely that sort of 90's Halsey coming to life a little. I wanted it to sound like something like a pop rock song we would have heard on the radio you know when we were younger.
I really wanted to pull from these like 90's influences, so there's like a lot of like Wong Kar Wai, but then it's also kind of like Natural Born Killers and it's like little Tarantino and like you know it's got this super 90's pulp. It's kind of Fight Club because it's like the dual personalities thing, you know? Just pulling for all these like classics, um, and honestly Mr. & Mrs. Smith was like a huge influence and it's not a 90's film but Angelina and Brad are obviously huge icons of that time, so they just, like, you know, they came to mind immediately. Yeah, the video is such a blast, super fun, it features like two different versions of me trying to totally like sneak attack and destroy each other and I had a blast making, it was my first music video that I ever directed.”
“Dog Years” “THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #2: PJ HARVEY
One of my absolute favorite songs on the album, inspired by one of the most influential artists of my lifetime.”
“Letter to God (1974)” “THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #4: CHER
Undisputed Queen. One of my favorite Cher songs, Dark Lady, was a number 1 hit in 1974. Still number 1 in my heart today.”
“Panic Attack” “THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #8: the mystical madame herself STEVIE NICKS!
There were so many looks to choose from but I HAD to invoke this witchy ballerina from Rumors. That pose was NOT easy to do while controlling the tulle! Stevie, as we know, is made of magic”
“The End” “THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #14: my favorite lyricist of all time, Joni Mitchell
I saw Joni at the bowl last night and it was one of the greatest privileges of my life.
Just wanted to say a special thank you to everyone on here who has found 'The End' resonates with them. It's like screaming in an empty room sometimes. I came back to tumblr when it all went down, because I think something special happens here. Like when someone sits at the edge of the couch and through your tears you say “please don't watch me cry, but please don't leave either.” This is the quiet space in between screaming observation and lethargic loneliness. It's shared solitude. The platform gave me everything once upon a time, so many years ago. It felt right to return in my weakest moment. It was here that I could tell small fragmented truths about what I was going through, in my own baroque way. Thanks for keeping my secret until I was ready.”
“I Believe in Magic” “THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #10: LINDA RONSTADT. A tribute to her endless versatility, a true chameleon”
“Letter to God (1983)” “THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #9: NJ's finest aka The Boss aka BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
This one requires no explanation, I'm a Jersey girl :)”
“Hometown” “THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #1: the queen DOLLY PARTON !!!!!!
I will be impersonating a different icon every day and teasing a snippet of the song they inspired.”
“I Never Loved You” “THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #3: KATE BUSH
This song cuts deep. The title of the song is 'I Never Loved You,' which is very bratty, but then in the record you get this little bait-and-switch, which is kind of like, 'I never loved you in vain,' you know? The sentiment in the record actually is, I did love you. I was thinking a lot about Dolly and Whitney, I was thinking about 'I Will Always Love You,' and I was thinking, 'What is the reverse engineering of that song?' Just that sentiment. I thought it was an iconic title.”
“Darwinism” “THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #5: Ziggy Stardust, The Starman, The Thin White Duke, The Picasso of Pop, Major Tom, The Master of Reinvention and The Chameleon of Rock... DAVID BOWIE.”
“Lonely is the Muse” “THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #6: AMY LEE my OG dark rock queen.
I've been waiting to release this song since the day I wrote it, and the wait was worth it. I'm so happy so many of you love this one because it's so special to me.”
“Arsonist” “THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #15: FIONA APPLE
Chief inspo for my entire life, but the influence especially shows up in this song (and a few others on this album).
It had a couple different iterations and it was sounding quite the way I wanted it to and I went in one night with Michael Uzi, who was a producer across most of the record and he's incredible, he's worked with Frank Ocean, SZA, Beyoncé, like he's amazing. And I walked in with him one night and we redid the entire song top to bottom, new vocals, everything, in like 30 minutes 'cause we're just trying out and, you know, an exercise with it, and it ended up being so good that after months of working on this song, this version we made 30 minutes is the one that ended up on the record and now it's one of my favorites.”
“Life of the Spider (Draft)” “THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #16: TORI AMOS
I grew up on Tori and have always considered her in a class of her own. This song, the most personal on the album, is just me and my piano. Because that's all Tori ever needed to rip your heart to shreds.”
“Hurt Feelings” “THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #12: Badlands Halsey, circa 2015
The new album takes place across decades, so I feel it's only right to honor the album I wrote a decade ago.”
“Lucky” “THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #11: it's Britney, bitch!!!!
The first superstar who ever inspired me. There were infinite Britney looks to choose from but I had to do this iconic album!
I remember the first time I heard her sing lucky and it hitting me at such a young age that I had no idea what her life was really like. and that feeling resonates with me so much still. I found myself singing it when I started treatment and then I knew I had to do it.”
“Letter to God (1998)” “THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #13: queen baby girl Aaliyah
Fun fact: I layered this song with vocals from my son when he was a baby, inspired by “Are You That Somebody”
“The Great Impersonator” “THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #17: Björk !!!!!
My first album with a title track. Influenced by the coolest, most ethereal being to ever exist.
The song came before it became the title of the album. So, this is my only album that has a title track, I've never done anything like that before. So the song came and I wrote 'The Great Impersonator.'”
