6/10
Favorite Track: "Without Me" Least Favorite Track: "Killing Boys"
As one grows as an individual their art can often be very reflective of that growth. Art often mirrors and reveals the most concealed and buried emotions within the artist that creates it, despite whether the artist’s intention or not. The new album titled Manic, from twenty-five year old singer-songwriter Halsey is a prime example of this. Compared to her previous two projects, Manic constantly proves itself as more raw and revealing of her growth as a young woman and the things she has learned throughout that process. Sonically the angle that Halsey takes on this project isn’t like anything she has done before. Up until this point she always had a very distinguishable style of electropop, and for the most part Manic completely ditches that sound. In more ways than one I think this album is a lot more clever than it has been given credit for, especially lyrically. However, with that being said I do think that not all of the risks that Halsey takes on Manic pan out from a songwriting stand point. Her previous style of grandiose production makes Manic seem a bit bare and a little lackluster at times in comparison. This album shines lyrically more than it does sonically on a consistent basis. The catalogue of sounds that Halsey attempts on this thing never remain constant. “Clementine” serves as cute and subdued piano lullaby, “You should be sad”, and “Finally // beautiful stranger”, are twang inspired country-pop tracks where Halsey wears her Kacey Musgraves influence a little too heavily on her sleeve. The track “3am” even serves as a pop punk banger reminiscent of Avril Lavigne. Some of these sounds pan out sonically and some don’t. This project really is an unfocussed mixed bag, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but the artistry and effort here is commendable. I find myself kind of torn on this one, but in the end I think Manic is a flawed but decent project. It remains lyrically ambitious enough to produce some decent ideas and remain interesting for the most part despite not every track panning out sonically.
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