Still, Capitol’s focus has been on amplifying the album as a body of work, which meant foregoing the pre-release of traditional singles or videos in favor of a 53-minute conceptual film that screened in IMAX theaters in August and bowed Oct. Lead single Chained to the Rhythm is a throbbing dose of louche French house with a splash of Caribbean juice from reggae scion Skip Marley the unsubtle food-as-sex metaphor Bon Appetit, featuring the omnipresent Migos, writhes and twists around dreamy, hypnotic synthesizers.Even from an artist known for constant reinvention, Halsey turned plenty of industry heads with the June 29 announcement that Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross had produced “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power.” Under Reznor and Ross’ supervision, the project certainly leans more alternative than prior Halsey releases but defies easy musical categorization, as its songs have garnered airplay and playlisting on multiple genre charts across radio and DSPs. Perry hasn't completely abandoned the big, sweeping pop song - ballads like the dramatic Miss You More and understated piano denouement Into Me You See are straight from the Adele playbook - but even her singles radiate in different shades. That's followed by an even better dance track, Deja Vu, a thrusting electro lament about a relationship turned sour. The song's icy pianos, finger-snaps and ecstatic, repetitive whoops evoke a late-'80s, after-hours New York City rave. Take Swish Swish, a deep-house hater-baiter supposedly aimed at Taylor Swift that's loaded with quotable dissses ("Karma's not a liar / she keeps receipts") and a few unnecessary but fun enough bars from Nicki Minaj. But it also yields some classic catchy Katy. Perry's adherence to this more mature aesthetic leaves chunks of Witness ( Mind Maze, Roulette, Power) feeling rigid and joyless, or at least not as personal as she's trying to suggest.
And she is defiant in her decision, singing on Hey Hey Hey about how she's "karate-chopping the cliches and norms all in a dress," adding on Power: "Hell hath no fury like a woman reborn / and now I'm burning like a blue flame once more."Įh, maybe. "If I'm not evolving, I'm just another robot taking up oxygen," Perry sings on Bigger Than Me. At her most tortured, Halsey delivers echoes of her former tourmate the Weeknd's early work - especially on the sparse, devious Eyes Closed, which he co-wrote, and which is just begging for an all-star club remix. Swimming in moody synthesizers and watery reverb songs like the piano ballad Sorry and digitally altered benediction Hopeless seem mixed for noiseproof headphones in a darkened bedroom.
The theatrical Walls Could Talk feels a little like Britney Spears covering Panic! at the Disco, a disposable breakup song delivered with emo-strength theatricality.īut somehow, these curious little excursions only enhance the album's intimacy and relatability. Later comes Good Mourning, an interlude of a chipper child's voice that leads into the stabbing piano of Lie, featuring Migos's Quavo rapping over airy, ambient synthesizers. The songwriting and production are all more in step with modern emo-pop and digital R&B than 2015's Badlands, and you get the sense Halsey is just starting to get comfortable in her skin.įirst, the odd: hopeless fountain kingdom opens with The Prologue, a spoken-word incantation over organs, followed by a swirl of Halsey's diginlly altered singing. While she's produced catchy songs in the past, hopeless fountain kingdom is the first evidence that Halsey is steering this ship toward a long career.
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