October 28, 2024 • 56 mins
Today's episode: Halsey's new album is here and to my surprise, this is shaping up to be her best release yet. Tune in to listen to my first reactions and impressions of the album while I explore some of Halsey's rawest and most confessional songwriting and breaking down some of her most iconic impersonations on the project. Could this become an album of the year contender?
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hey, welcome to the Overshare Pamphlet.
(00:25):
My name is Rob and I'm the host of this one-man show.
Welcome back to the podcast.
I'm coming to you every Monday at 6am UK.
Well, it's not British time anymore, it's GMT I guess now, because we went back one hour today.
But yeah, still gonna say at 6am every Monday, so watch out for that episode drop.
(00:50):
So, yeah, this is the last episode of the month, of October basically.
So, spooky season is, well, will be officially over after the 31st of course, after Halloween.
But Halloween weekend has already passed by the time I'm recording this, so I hope you guys, if you celebrated during Halloween weekend, you had a great time.
(01:13):
I certainly did. I had an incredible birthday party, one of my besties, Pam.
She had her birthday party, but also it was a great Halloween party as well.
And I dressed up as Travis Kelcey, for those of you who wanted to know.
And it was a fun time. I bought the official jersey, even though I don't know anything about American football.
(01:38):
So, yeah.
But I had to fit in the part. I didn't have the mustache, so that's it.
But I did have the friendship bracelets. What the fuck is wrong with me?
But yeah, I did it. I did that. I had very short shorts, like 3 inch shorts.
(01:59):
Yeah, that was, they were really, really short. So that was crazy.
Anyways, today's episode, today's episode we're talking about The Great Impersonator, the newest album by Halsey.
And this was an unexpected one for me, because I'm not, I have to be honest, I'm not really the biggest Halsey fan in the sense that I've never really checked her music out that much.
(02:31):
Even though during the Tumblr days, I did love Badlands and all that.
So, what was that the name of the album as well? I do remember loving that album when I was a kid. Yeah, Badlands, yeah.
I do remember that correctly. But yeah, I still remember, I still know of course who she is.
(02:52):
I've been keeping an eye on her ever since she became famous, during the Tumblr days I said, and Badlands came out and all that.
But yeah, I was not expecting to like this album as much as I did.
This is going to be my first reaction to that album.
(03:14):
So, it's not a review, don't expect it to be a review by any sort or any stretch of imagination.
Because I've only had the album for like a couple days, it came out this Friday, and this past Friday.
And yeah, so I do not pretend to have even the full comprehension unlocked at the moment.
(03:42):
And still, I still need to work on a lot of the tracks on the album.
But by listening to it for a couple of times already, I can already see the potential of the album.
Like the message and the feeling conveyed is actually very strong as well.
So, it really moved me in some shape or form. I cannot stop thinking about it in that sense.
(04:03):
Which is a big sign on my end that the album is special, or there's something really good about it.
And so these are my first thoughts on the album, my first reaction to that.
And also, I'm going to be talking about some of my favorite tracks off of the album.
(04:23):
But of course, as usual, before we get into it, songs of the week.
I'm going to try and spare some spaces because I'm going to be including some of the songs from the album in the playlist of the month.
Which by the way is going to end with this episode, the playlist of October.
Because it's the last episode of the month.
(04:44):
Yeah.
So, first off, we cannot of course end the month without really getting into what happened in terms of...
Well, I would say, Disease by Lady Gaga.
(05:08):
She came out also on Friday with the first single I believe from her upcoming seventh studio album.
And this is sort of like a return to form for Lady Gaga that we've been praying for.
Because as I said, this shit hits hard.
(05:30):
Even on Twitter I was saying that this is OG Lady Gaga in all sorts.
It's so... The Fame Monster I would say, a lot of that as well.
It reminds me a lot of that.
It's just so nice to see her going back to her...
I was scared, to be honest, when she did The Word is Ending.
(05:51):
Even though that's a great song, I can see that.
I just think she was still leaning into that conservative...
To be fair, she can do whatever she wants of course.
She's well beyond recognition at this point.
So she is famous for what she did and all that.
I cannot shake the feeling that she...
(06:13):
It always felt very disingenuous what she did after...
Well, ever since Joanne, I think it was.
Sort of like a different view or a different approach to music.
I don't know.
Then she started going into acting, which is fine, whatever.
I mean, if that's what she wants to pursue, that's great as well.
(06:35):
But then she also did some songs for quite conservative...
Well, I'm talking songs.
I'm just referring to mostly...
Well, to be fair, when she dabbled with a bit of Contra in Joanne,
that was already her choice I would say.
Then the soundtrack she made for Top Gun, I believe, Maverick or something.
(06:59):
I was like, what the fuck are you doing?
You built your audience and you are at your core.
You used to be a very left-wing, queer-loved, I guess,
queer-supported artist and then you...
Whatever.
This feels to me like a good return to form.
(07:22):
There's a lot of creepy elements into the song.
It's like OG Lady Gaga.
Lady Gaga has never been the cool artist that sings about cool or sexy things in that sense.
She can be, of course, if she wants to.
But she's more like that bratty...
She's the OG brat in that sense a bit.
She has a bit of that.
She's a bit of the blueprint for that and the hyper-pop situation.
(07:45):
This is pretty much it.
It's a bit of that gritty sound that, again,
Fame Monster and all that stuff really solidified her sound at the time.
That's pretty much what it is.
Love it.
I loved seeing on Twitter the parallels with The Cure,
(08:07):
the other song that she had, which are basically very similar in message,
but they're approached in different ways.
All The Cure is more like a lovey-dovey type of song,
like a poppy song.
This is more aggressive.
Sort of like, I'm going to be your addiction.
I'm going to cure your disease.
I'm like your Alex Zier.
(08:29):
It's a very aggressive song in that sense.
The production is just incredible.
Very synthy, very hyper-poppy.
I was just waiting for Gaga to come back with something like this.
I'm very excited.
The quality is just incredible.
The vocal performance here is also so theatrical and so aggressive again.
(08:51):
It's a very aggressive song.
I love it.
If you like Brat or hyper-pop space in that sense,
you need to listen to this because this was the original point
from where everything else came after.
I'm going to put it in the playlist.
You can find it, of course, by just typing on Spotify,
(09:15):
the Overshoot Pamphlet Songs of the Week,
Dash October 2024.
Then, speaking of Brat,
we have to talk about Whiplash by Espe.
Probably my favourite track that they have ever put out.
I want to say that.
To me, it even surpasses Supernova, which is a high bar.
(09:39):
But it is so unusual for K-pop to have this sort of sound.
This is not really hyper-poppy, though, I would say.
This is more like Vogue kind of strutting music as well.
It's very techno as well.
It's so good.
I can't.
(10:01):
But I guess it builds off of that Brat aesthetic,
that disgusting dirty girl aesthetic,
but also sort of runaway type of girl.
It's just so good.
There's a lot of camera images here as well,
sort of revoking Von Dutch as well.
(10:22):
You can see that influence in there, of course.
But it's just so good.
The choreo, I've been obsessed with it.
I had to learn it.
I did learn it.
And it was just incredible.
I just love this song.
I cannot stress it enough.
This is probably one of my favourite K-pop releases of the year.
And also, hands down, my favourite Aespa song ever made.
(10:45):
So I might be exaggerating.
Well, not really. I stand by that.
That's a great, great, great track.
The video is also just so cunty.
I cannot.
Whenever I first heard the first snippet on their social media platforms,
I was like, oh, this, I see the vision.
(11:06):
This is gotta be just very niche and very...
Well, to be fair, I've seen...
Well, they're slaying in Korea, of course, in terms of charts,
so they're really doing that.
But this is like so...
And they're like number two everywhere, basically.
Well, they're not number one because number one is APT by Rosé,
(11:28):
which is still dominating worldwide.
But Rosé is blocking them to...
Well, she's gonna stay on there for a while, I believe.
No one is gonna get to number one anyway.
But being number two in that chart right at the moment
is like saying that if APT was not there, they would be number one.
(11:50):
So, yeah.
Incredible song, incredible visuals, everything is just crazy.
But I think it's very niche in terms of vibe,
just the same way, bright as niche in a way.
It has great cultural impact, but it's very much not catering towards everyone,
even older people or general audiences in that sense.
(12:11):
It's more like young people clubbing and all that stuff.
So, yeah.
Great, great, great, great stuff.
And to finish it off, before I get into the album,
I want to put in Headlock by Imogen Heap.
Now, girls, don't get me.
I actually have never really listened to much of Imogen Heap.
(12:35):
I know she's a legend.
And I love it.
But I need to get into the Speak For Yourself album.
That's a 2005 album.
And when I listened to Headlock for the first time yesterday,
I was like, this song could come out today and still be super current.
(12:59):
Even the way it's produced is just insane to me.
It sounds so ahead of its time from when it came out.
It's so good. I cannot stress it enough.
And I know that Speak For Yourself has also another great track
called Good Night and Go, which famously inspired Arden and Granda
to have her own version of it on Sweetener.
(13:21):
But I'm sure there's so much on the album that I will discover.
I'll get into it, of course, maybe after this episode, actually.
But yeah.
It's crazy.
So yeah, just listen to the song.
(13:42):
It's a 2005 track again, but it's just so good.
So well produced, so well sung.
Melodies wise, it's just so catchy.
I just cannot believe it.
Imogen Heap, a legend for a reason.
Yeah.
But I don't want to go too overboard with this.
(14:03):
I want to stick to the plan, which is, of course,
my first reaction to The Great Impersonator.
So before we get into the actual thing, like the album overall,
I think it's important to just acknowledge first the fact that this album
is her first album since her 2021 album, If I Can Have Love, I Want Power.
(14:31):
And so there was a space of three years between these two albums.
And it's important to note what happened in her life,
because a lot has happened in these three years.
And so she gave birth to a child, struggled with lupus and the disease,
(14:54):
and also discovered a T cell disorder.
So she was diagnosed with that as well.
And so you can imagine that her life has been pretty much hell for,
well, of course, a lot of joys as well with her, of course, pregnancy and everything,
but also a lot of pain, a lot of very destabilizing news.
(15:15):
And it's just been a very, I mean, you can tell from the album as well.
That's what I'm trying to say that basically these past three years have been very difficult for her.
And she sort of cathartically created this project that is just honestly,
as she said herself, probably one of her most raw confessional songwriting type of album she's ever made.
(15:41):
And I second that. I would say this is probably her most confessional type of writing that she's ever done, to be fair.
She always had this type of singer-songwriter type of vibe to her.
But I think the problem that I never really, which also leads me to why I never really liked,
(16:02):
well, I never really liked her music, but I just never really could attach myself to it that much
is because I think she never really picked a lane herself.
She wasn't really sure where to go and where to head as an artist.
So she dabbled sometimes in some efforts of singer-songwriter material.
But also then she most times also went back to trying to make very digestible and palatable pop, generic pop music.
(16:32):
So it was a bit disorienting because I could have never placed her in any sort of category.
Not that she needs to, but I think it's just like her, I would say, personally in my view,
her more palatable and more generic pop-sounding songs were not really the strongest and were a bit disingenuous.
(16:57):
And as I said time and time again, to make pop music is not an easy thing.
You have to have a secret sauce and you have to know how to be very full-packagy in that sense when it comes to that.
Image-wise and sound-wise and aesthetic and everything, it has to be a proper package.
(17:18):
It's so difficult to produce a pop record, right?
So I always thought that her attempts at doing that were not really the strongest ones
because I don't think she really found her lane in pop music in that sense.
But this, the confessional songwriting, I think really is her strongest suit.
(17:39):
She is an incredible songwriter on this album, I have to be honest.
Probably some of her best writing ever.
The lyrics here, when I tell you I'm so fucking surprised, I am not kidding.
I'm so surprised.
Apart from that, she also was dropped from her previous label.
So it was a combination of so many factors in her life.
(18:02):
I can imagine it must have been crazy for her to just put her feet down and actually pursue this project as well.
So yeah.
First of all, kudos to her for doing all that.
Because it's a very brave and very strong commitment.
(18:25):
And I really commend her for doing that.
Now, let's get to the actual album itself.
Why is it called The Great Impersonator?
Basically, her concept for this was to impersonate several legends, musical heroes, New Jersey new musical legends.
(18:50):
Which include Dolly Parton, sorry, not New Jersey, like she's from New Jersey, but her favorite singer-songwriters.
So she impersonated, leaning up to the album, she impersonated several celebrities, several singer-songwriters.
Including Dolly Parton, David Bowie, Stevie Nicks, Bruce Springsteen, Cher, Britney Spears,
(19:16):
Evanescence, The Cranberries, well, so many of them basically.
And I would say that when she first put out Lucky, the concept of the album to me wasn't really clear at the beginning.
(19:37):
Because I didn't really, I don't think she really explained the first, well she kind of did, I guess.
She called the album The Great Impersonator, I think, before she dropped Lucky, I believe.
But there wasn't much in terms of actual, you know, before actually hearing the full album, her first offering was sort of Lucky.
And Lucky was an okay track, I would say.
(20:01):
And it's more on the generic side, I would say.
But I think in the context of the album, it makes so much sense, the track, and it's so much better.
At the time when it first came out, I was like, I don't know if this is a good idea to impersonate Britney Spears,
and I don't know, to interpret her actual song, Lucky.
But I think, as I said again, in the context of the album, it's actually so smart.
(20:26):
And her photos recreating famous covers from these artists was so smart, marketing-wise, I would say.
Because basically, it turned itself into also a meme.
Because I think every day, for 18 days basically, I think she started teasing the album, and every day she would post,
(20:47):
because there's 18 tracks, so each day she would post a photo of her recreating an album cover of one of the songwriters,
and then also reveal a track from the album, right?
So it was so funny that people then started actually... well, it wasn't funny from the beginning, but...
Wait. Blast me.
(21:08):
But it turned into a full meme, which helped the chatter spread around about the album,
and I think it was a great, great idea for that. That is actually so smart.
So you've seen on Twitter people making edits of her impersonating also people, like, completely different celebrities.
It's just so funny. So, yeah. Just crazy.
(21:35):
And I think the common catchphrase, Halsey impersonating, whoo, blank, became very popular on Twitter in the past few weeks.
So, could've served. That was actually very smart.
But I want to also return to the point of the impersonator itself.
I was thinking that she was going to go for an actual proper impersonation, like actually impersonating the singer itself,
(21:59):
but when it came out that it was going to be a singer-songwriter, like a confessional album,
then I was like, well, how is this going to work out?
Are you going to impersonate the artist, or are you going to just give us your confessional?
I thought I had doubt, to be honest, but I am so glad that it worked so well,
(22:21):
because basically she's not actually impersonating the artist themselves.
It's more like she's sort of taking their sounds, I guess, but molding into her and to her own songwriting.
And I think what really pulls the album together is that it's so cohesive, both thematically, but also, I think, in a way, production-wise,
because the sound that she's incorporating here is very much like Y2K in that sense, well, year 2000 and 1990s in that sense.
(22:50):
So there's a lot of acoustic guitar ballads and a lot of rock elements and a lot of rock and...
Damn, not the dog.
But anyways, yeah, so it really worked so well, I think, because I would say it's even better than just impersonating and copying previous super famous songwriters.
(23:19):
It's like she's taking the sound and inspiration from them and making a song that could sort of sound, I guess, like it belongs to, I don't know, David Bowie or Dolly Parton or whatever,
but then she's turning it around and adapting it to her own vibe.
And again, the songwriting is what really helps put the entire thing in focus.
(23:42):
So very, very glad about that.
I loved it.
So, yeah, let's get into the business of the tracks.
So I'm not going to go into... Oh, well, before actually, yeah, maybe I want to sort of maybe get out of the way the criticisms that I have.
(24:06):
I think, as I said again, there's quite a lot of, you know, well, I don't know.
I don't want to say like it's a slow album in that sense, but there are a lot of ballads on here.
So automatically for me, it's a bit of a more difficult challenge in that sense, because I have to like get accustomed to the slowness of it all.
(24:34):
And it's going to take a while for me to like really clock all of the tracks in that sense, since there are so many ballads.
I think what really I would have done without a bit was the amount of tracks.
It's 18 tracks, I believe. So that's quite a lot.
That's quite a lot.
(24:55):
But, yeah, maybe I would have done with like a bit like maybe some cuts and like a bit more of a compact.
Yeah, tracklist.
But it's so that's the only minor thing I would say I would change about the album for now.
Maybe I'll change my mind soon, but I really liked the a lot of the like, you know, the thematical subjects that she chose for this.
(25:28):
So like I think, again, as I said, like some writing pulls it all together because of themes explored in the album actually quite consistent and reoccurring in a way.
And the concept is explore, I would say, like fall in some categories, like some specific categories, like most of them are about pain and like the pains of life in general, but also sickness to be specific as well.
(25:55):
And it's not simply also like physical sickness, but also mental mental, you know, mental health related issues.
And there's also there's also a lot of like a lot of depth, I guess, into many of the ballads when it comes to motherhood and fragility of life itself and passage of time.
(26:19):
And like, you know, that like it's a full reflection on life and pain and the condition of the human condition and sprinkled in there.
Well, I guess in like, in a very consistent way is the concept of faith as well.
There's a lot of like a lot of there are a lot of references to heaven, hell, Jesus, God, faith and all that.
(26:47):
And it's not done in like a very, you know, like religious way per se.
But it's just like, you know, it's sort of like speaking about like the low point issue was out and she was like, you know, you know, how do you usually say like whenever you are you are your lowest you turn to like, you know,
(27:11):
things are greater than you to ask for guidance and ask for, you know, help.
And so that's exactly what's the purpose of faith here.
Like you can tell that she turned to like faith and all these things because she was really, really in a very low, low place and she was begging God to help her and to have God, you know, ease her pain or sickness and everything.
(27:37):
So it's quite it's quite, you know, it's quite vulnerable and quite raw.
I said again, it's quite it's quite a sad album as well.
But I think it also in a way not necessarily like you don't necessarily only have to be sad and like, you know, low mood in that sense.
I think in some parts of it also becomes on the on the flip side, it becomes very energetic and almost rageful in some in some sort of in some ways like she's sort of potentially because it's like so desperate.
(28:12):
It's like a desperate call for life and strength that in some in some instances it becomes like very energetic as an album and very, you know,
earnest, I guess, like for life and for strength, which is really, really like beautiful, honestly, to see.
And it fits very well with the entire theme because it is about, you know,
(28:36):
the entire, you know, scope of like the human condition and the sickness of it all, you know.
So, yeah, I really loved the concept. That's why I keep on thinking about it, because like it's a very specific mood that the album puts you in.
It's like a very you can literally see her eye to eye in that sense after listening to this, which is like so like this is the main goal you want to achieve with a confessional songwriting type of album.
(29:05):
So, yeah, so let's get first into like the actual maybe the actual tracks that I enjoyed.
I'm not going to go through all of them because, again, didn't really have the time to explore the album that much.
But I did on my first few listens, the ones that I really, really, 100 percent enjoyed where ego, panic attack, the end.
(29:32):
I never loved you, Lonelys Amuse and The Great Impersonator, which is also a type of track.
And to add on to that, I think the only song that I listened to in terms of singles before the album came out was just Lucky and that's it.
So I didn't listen to ego. I didn't listen to Lonelys Amuse.
So to me, they were all new tracks and I really, really enjoyed them.
(29:55):
So, yeah, I would say like top of the top has to be maybe at the moment panic attack, but also I really like ego.
I don't know. But all the ones that I mentioned are my favorite tracks to be fair off of the album.
So, yeah, let's start first with ego.
Maybe we shall do that. I think is the second track on the album, by the way.
(30:19):
And in terms of the impersonator, the singer songwriter she's impersonating with this one is The Cranberries.
She's impersonating the band The Cranberries.
And the sound of the song is actually, you know, again, very punk pop, punk rockish in that sense.
And it's so, so, so, so good, the sound of the song.
(30:43):
So kudos to Halsey.
Oh, wait, if. Oh, maybe I've been misusing her.
Well, their pronouns, because I think Halsey identifies as a non-binary.
So if I have done so up until now, I apologize.
Just I've not paid attention to it.
But, yeah, they have made such a great, great, great, great, great contribution to this with this song, to the album with this song,
(31:12):
because this is in essence, like if you love.
Like a Y2K punk pop, then this is for you.
But I think what again, what the concept works so well here is that she's impersonating.
They are impersonating. Sorry, I'm trying my best.
They are impersonating The Cranberries, but at the same time, the content is like very non.
(31:34):
Well, The Cranberries do get, I guess they don't really get confessional in that sense.
But Halsey here does get into that space and they get into that.
Even though this is one of the more generic maybe type of tracks, but it's still very confessional in that sense.
So, for example, verse one, just to like highlight some of her incredible songwriting in this album.
(31:58):
I'm caught up in everyday trend, tied up by invisible thread, walking down a razor thin edge and I wake up tired, think I'm better off dead.
So immediately this song opens up, so you know that she's at a very low point, very depressed.
Very, very depressed.
But yeah, so she's, this is like rule number one of, you know, singer songwriting basically, like confessional songwriting.
(32:27):
Like you pick up from a very specific instance, you know, very specific feeling that you have and you narrate your experience, right?
In the most honest way possible, but also by being very concise and effective with your lyrics, right?
(32:49):
So that's what they've done here.
So then they carry on by saying, being a few months since I crossed over straight lines, talked to my mom, fake smile over FaceTime, drink all night till I can't walk in a straight line, feel so low, but I'm high at the same time.
So, so good. So, the lyrics are so fucking good. I cannot.
So it's sort of like, you know, already you can tell from these lyrics that they are basically talking about them faking basically their happiness and like not trying to worry their parents and their mom.
(33:25):
So there's a lot of that and, you know, drink all night till I can walk in a straight line, feel so low, but I'm high at the same time, problems with addiction and all that stuff. So very serious stuff here as well.
And then I love the chorus as well.
It's mostly about killing your own, they say basically, I think that I should try to kill my ego because if I don't, my ego might kill me.
(33:52):
I'm all grown up, but somehow lately I'm acting like a fucking baby. I'm really not as happy as I seem.
They realize basically that the source of their unhappiness is basically their own ego in that sense.
And the only way for them to like move forward and be happy and try to achieve that happiness is to kill their own ego.
Because if they don't, then the ego will kill them. This desperate, you know, need and feeling of, you know, trying to appease their ego is not, is never going to be enough. Right?
(34:26):
So, yeah, I think also in a way I've seen from Genius that Halsey here was sort of referencing their own, well, bipolar disorder, I think they have.
Let me double check. Yeah. Bipolar disorder when they were a teen. So, yeah, they could still continue to struggle with it.
(34:52):
And so there is this dichotomy between the ego, the like, eater alive, but also the other side of their own mental, you know, awareness that recognizes the issue.
And they know they're better off by killing this very toxic form of scrutiny, self-scrutiny. So, yeah.
(35:19):
I really like the second verse as well.
Period. Period. Period. Period. Again, if you love a bit of punk rock, that song is for you. That song is for you. That song is for you.
(35:53):
Panic Attack is my favorite track, which is the next one I want to talk about.
This one is inspired by Stevie Nicks, I believe. Let me find it. Panic Attack. Yeah. So, so good. So good.
(36:14):
Again, this is more, this is a bit of a different take on self-loathing in a way, because here they say basically that they cannot recognize the feeling.
They cannot distinguish between like love or panic attack. Is it love or a panic attack? They say in the chorus. Is it is a heavy heart too much to hold? I don't know, but it's late, so I'm taking you home.
(36:41):
Is it love or a panic attack? Would you mind if I asked you on the phone? I don't know, but it's late, so I'm taking you home.
In the verses, she opens up about going to the doctor, left a note on his machine because I tripped when we went walking and I fell in my spleen.
Now I think I need a blood test or an antihistamine because you make me fucking nervous and I don't know what it all means.
(37:04):
I guess here is also in a way, sort of trauma from their previous experiences with previous partners.
It's basically the same concept of like loving someone that makes you have butterflies and feel anxious, but you cannot really feel comfortable with this person, right?
(37:26):
Like you cannot distinguish the feeling, right? So very relatable, very relatable, very relatable, very relatable.
Yeah. But again, there's a lot of opening up about their own mental health.
In the first verse, they say my body carries sadness that my brain cannot see and I've been holding onto the memories in my stomach and my teeth.
(37:48):
I think here is also sort of like, again, the spleen on trauma, past trauma. And then they go on by saying like, and both my shoulders have been burdened by the weight of my mistakes.
And every time you're leaning closer, both my knees can help, can help us shake.
So yeah, experiencing, you know, a lot of trauma, PTSD. Ooh.
(38:10):
But yes, the song of this song is just incredible. It's like a typical Stevie Nicks sort of type of beat. Beat. I don't want to call it beat, but production.
It's just so, so, so good. Please listen to this one. I think this one, I'm going to put this one in ego, I think, in my place of the month, because these two are probably my top two.
(38:33):
Again, here you can see that I really like the more upbeat numbers, but there are a couple of balls that I really enjoyed. I'm going to get to them in a second.
Let me add them up. Let me add them up. So panic attack period.
And also, Ego. There we go. Yeah. So incredible song.
(39:04):
Before I get to the next track, I just want to point out one second, just like reminded myself of that, that on the album there are three interludes, I would say, called Letter to God 1974, Letter to God 1983, and Letter to God 1998.
And these are all, you know, again, as I like her turning to God to ask God to basically help them to solve like, you know, ease their pain or whatever specifically.
(39:38):
And it's an evolution of things because the first one, they're asking, I don't want to go to grandma's, so I'm quiet on the drive. I don't want to go to grandma's, so I'm quiet on the drive.
And they go into, please God, I want to be sick. Please God, I want to be sick. I don't want to.
I want to be loved. Please God, I want to be loved. I want to be sick. So basically, here's like, you know, sort of explaining her original like, you know, like when she was young, she's like, well, they're turning back to when they were younger, basically.
(40:18):
So it's like sort of their reminiscence on past memories of that.
So, I have like that concept, I guess, of like pain and everything else and like a drive to grandma's house.
I don't want to go to grandma's, so I'm quiet on the drive. I saw a deer that must have gotten hit. It made me start to cry.
(40:41):
Did he have a mom and a dad and do they argue just like mine? So there's a lot of it like, you know, they're explaining a lot about their childhood traumas again here.
So, yeah, and so then they turn to God because, well, they have suicidal thoughts here, basically.
(41:02):
His God, I want to be sick. I want to hurt, so I'll get it over with quick. So basically, they want God to like, you know, end her pain of like a hurt, like feeling these emotions.
So they'd rather be sick and they'd rather be done with life because they've had enough of experiencing these emotions.
(41:25):
Then this turns into in the next interlude, it turns into a different concept of faith and like sickness as well in Latter-day God 1983.
It's like here is more like, I would say maybe in her teenage years, maybe.
(41:50):
I left home and moved to Brooklyn where my boyfriend had a place and he had track marks on his arms, but had the most angelic face.
So it's about, you know, toxic love and all that stuff. I don't want to. I watched my friends die before 21 and now I'm 28.
I'm at a doctor every day because I cannot stop losing weight and now I'm one with needles in my arms and my legs.
I'm making jokes about the blood test and I'm planning my estate. So there's a lot of that, you know, very bad stuff.
(42:17):
And the chorus goes into, please God, I don't want to be sick and I don't want to hurt. So get it over with quick.
So it's here, it's flipping it around. Instead of I want to be sick, it's I don't want to be sick and I don't want to hurt.
Please God, I want to be loved. I don't want to be somebody that you're trying to get rid of.
And so there is that once they've actually experienced more, I would say, serious pain and serious, you know, physical sickness in that sense,
(42:48):
Halsey becomes scared, I guess, of the sickness and they're pleading God not to, you know, make them sick in that sense and to finish this cycle of pain.
And in the last one, Let it Go out in 1998, they go into a newer one, which is now after she gave birth to her child, which is so sweet to see.
(43:09):
They start also questioning faith in that sense and in the refrain they go into, please God or whoever you are.
So it's a bit of like, you know, that is actually quite interesting as well.
And the verses, these days I get less calls because no one wants to hear my voice.
I miss the days when I was getting taxes that I could just avoid and I've been trying to be calm and not preemptive of destroy.
(43:31):
Every time I mean the real words, not paranoid and stay home by my lonesome with my little baby boy and I watch him on the kitchen floor.
He's playing with his toys and I don't ever want to leave him, but I don't think it's my choice.
So that's a lot of that more adult commentary on that.
And the chorus goes into, please God, oh, you've got to be sick. Why do you make it hurt? And why is it over so quick?
(43:56):
Please God, I'm finally loved. I finally found somebody I don't want to get rid of.
So it changes another step further in that sense.
And they discovered a love, an unconditional love that they have for their own child.
And they blame God for making them hurt so much when they have to be separated and all that stuff.
(44:20):
So, yeah, crazy stuff.
And they feel anxious about, of course, Halsey feels anxious about their boy, their baby boy, you know, possibly being sick.
So, yeah, they want the best for them in that sense, which is really nice.
OK, now let's get to the other tracks before we run out of time.
(44:42):
Next one is The End.
Here, I believe, I think from Instagram, I think Halsey here is impersonating Johnny Mitchell.
And also, side note, they've said in some of her posts that it's also their favorite lyricist of all time.
(45:04):
Very fitting because this is a very nice homage to Johnny Mitchell.
This is one of my favorite ballads on the album. On the album, first, like, listen immediately.
So verse one, for example, every couple of years now, a doctor says I'm sick, pulled out a brand new bag of tricks and they laid it on me.
(45:25):
And at first it was my brain and then a skeleton in pain. I don't like to complain, but I'm saying sorry.
So, again, here's the theme of sickness and in this sense also physical sickness.
And there's a lot about like medicine, doctors and curing and curing your disease and everything.
But the bigger question in the song is meeting a person you think is right for yourself and questioning whether they can stick around in the long run,
(45:57):
even if the worst comes to you, basically, right?
So if you're feeling like you're going to experience something really bad, you start to wonder if that person is going to stay by your side or not.
And so Halsey goes into the chorus which says if you knew it was the end of the world, could you love me like a child?
Could you hold me in the dark? If you knew it was the end of the world, would you like to stay for a while?
(46:22):
Would you leave when it gets hard?
So, again, knowing the previous context of the trauma that they've had with their previous lovers and everything else,
and their parents possibly having a lot of fights when they were a kid, it makes so much sense.
And paired with the very hard time they've had with being an only mother and having to raise a child for a while by themselves is just quite a lot.
(46:53):
But yeah, verse 2.
So I ran into the clinic and I asked to see the man with his white coat and his seroscope like a snake around his hand.
And I told him I'm not bitter because I finally found a lover who's better for my liver and now I'll finally recover.
That's so sweet, I love it.
I finally found a lover who's better for my liver and now I'll finally recover.
(47:15):
When I met him, that's the pre-chorus, I thought I was damaged goods from a real bad neighborhood.
So we wrestle in the mud and I told him he could stay right where he stood, but I don't know if he should.
Because once my God destroys the flesh, then there's the flood.
But this is a beautifully written one, it's a very nice ballad as well.
(47:37):
Love the melodies here.
And I think it's mostly like acoustic guitar, which is very, very sweet, very well composed.
Loved it so much.
Next, next, next, next, I Never Loved You.
I Never Loved You is impersonating Kate Bush in this one.
(48:04):
But more like the ballad-y Kate Bush, I would say.
Not the energetic Kate Bush, but yeah.
Another incredible track.
Let me see if I can get the lyrics up.
(48:25):
But yeah, Never Loved You, I Never Loved You, that again, as I said, it's one of the great, I think,
well, that Halsey put on this album.
They're cutting her up on the operating table, but it wasn't enough.
The front desk pages, it's a call for ages.
They couldn't save her, they couldn't save her.
(48:47):
As I just said, she had a hole in her heart, but it wasn't her fault.
It was there from the start.
Period.
Trying to love you through an open wound, because everything I put inside there just fell right through.
And I held the parts together with some pressure and glue, and you're running in slow-mo to the hospital room.
If you only knew, how bad it hurt me too.
Crazy stuff, crazy shit, crazy shit.
(49:09):
It's, again, like the themes of like, you know, doctors, health, sickness, and all that stuff.
Halsey's character, well, I think they're still talking about themselves in a way, but it's sort of like a character in third person, whatever.
But in this song, this character may be attempting to relieve or excuse the significant other in the situation
for spending the money simply because Halsey never loved him, basically.
(49:31):
So now you can take the money, they say, you can get on a plane to a beautiful island, build a house in my name,
you can donate all the money to somebody in pain, and you can rest your head down and not feel any shame.
I never loved you, I never loved you, I never loved you in vain.
So, yeah, like that is a real, real good track.
(49:54):
It's just really, like, really, really good, honestly.
Like, loved this one so much.
Let me get to the next one, which is...
Ooh, sorry.
The next one is Lonely is the Muse.
(50:18):
This is inspired by the, by Evanescence.
This song is so, so good.
It's like very, like almost metal rock, I would say.
Almost metal rock.
Evanescence go with it, like very rockish, very, very, very cool.
And in this...
(50:41):
I like the concept of this one because it talks about, like...
Well, here, Halsey compares himself to like a martyr and to Jesus, basically.
I always knew I was a martyr and that Jesus was one too, but I was built from special pieces that I learned how to unscrew.
And I can always reassemble to fit perfectly for you or anybody that decides that I'm of use.
Here, basically, Halsey is comparing themselves to sort of a moldable tool that can be discarded in their own opinion after they've been used, right?
(51:19):
And they start questioning, where do I go after I'm done with this?
Like when I'm just on a parade, as they say in the second verse, I've been a Muse.
I've been, you know, inspiring a lot of great art for myself after, you know, people are done with me.
Or maybe their lover, they're done with them.
(51:43):
Like, what are they going to do?
They're just going to be discarded, but they can always fit and rearrange their parts to fit someone else, right?
So, yeah, reduced to a body, hearing someone else's bad is just, you know, very, it's a very interesting take on it.
I think genius, for example, said about the martyr, about the martyr line that basically a martyr is someone who sacrifices themselves for the sake of the principle, I guess.
(52:17):
Jesus suffered basically in order to save sinners and Halsey's case, they had to sacrifice their condition that she would get from the work in order to receive love.
But this love is not like a real one.
It's like, you know, they've had to tolerate partners who were not in, you know, were not loving them in the best interest in that sense.
(52:42):
And the media focuses more on like the demand that they've, like, you know, Halsey has dated more than the art itself.
So sort of, yeah, the martyr in this case is just like, you know, sacrificing recognition and, you know, the fame from the art for the sake of love.
(53:04):
A love that is not, you know, actually fulfilling, which is very sad, but slayful.
And yeah, it's very rageful track, very rageful track.
So go listen to this one. It's really, really good.
And to close off, the great impersonator, this inspired, I believe, by Bjork.
(53:25):
And this is also the title track, which is very, very fitting because it's like a very like it plays a lot on like the theme of the impersonator.
It's a great like, you know, homage to Bjork as well, the way she holds these things in this one is just very Bjork reminiscent.
So we loved that. It's very cool stuff.
(53:48):
Let me see if I can get up the lyrics.
I think this is the last track on the standard edition of the album.
There is an extra track, but I've never listened to that.
But yeah, so in the great impersonator, no one has to know I could always hide, but sometimes it might get to me.
Things on all your minds like they don't know I'm lonely, they don't know I'm kind.
So the thing is the great impersonator in this song specifically is them acting as a, you know, as a perfect celebrity or, you know, always happy and always perfect and everything else.
(54:23):
Again, here is another link to the tool imagery, like being a tool or being an object in the pre-chorus.
They say like I promise that I'm fine, but then I redesign and put myself together like some little Frankenstein.
So there's like underlining thing about all these is that they're very good at faking their emotional well-being and then they like break themselves apart to like fit any sort of imagery in that sense, which is really interesting here.
(54:58):
And it fits very well with the great impersonator as well, like the image of that.
The chorus is so funny.
So there's like Halsey also trying to look back at her legacy and seeing what's left of it and, you know, hoping that they can recognize her skill as a great impersonator, I would say maybe.
(55:27):
And yeah, and hoping also that the music that she has produced in these years can live beyond their own life, can go well beyond and can be, you know, a legacy that can be celebrated, celebrated long term.
And girl, I have to tell you, this album will be celebrated, will be remembered because this is probably your magnet, I would say.
(55:49):
So, so good. So happy to see it.
But yeah, these are the tracks that I really, really enjoyed.
The great impersonator is more like, it's not really a ballad, so it's more in between, I guess.
Well, it's a typical Bjork sound, sounding track. It's very weird, but I loved it. Kind of cool.
So yeah, give it a go. I put two songs in there that you could like probably listen to. They're a bit more plausible, but yeah, incredible.
(56:14):
I'm so impressed, so impressed by Halsey, by this album. I didn't expect it to like it as much as it did, so pleasantly surprised.
But anyways, hope you guys have a great end of the month. And if you celebrate Halloween on the 31st, hope you have a great Halloween day.
And I'll catch you up with the next episode. First episode of the month, next time.
(56:36):
So, for November, we're getting there. Christmas is almost here. Bye!
Hey, welcome to the Overshare Pamphlet.
(00:25):
My name is Rob and I'm the host of this one-man show.
Welcome back to the podcast.
I'm coming to you every Monday at 6am UK.
Well, it's not British time anymore, it's GMT I guess now, because we went back one hour today.
But yeah, still gonna say at 6am every Monday, so watch out for that episode drop.
(00:50):
So, yeah, this is the last episode of the month, of October basically.
So, spooky season is, well, will be officially over after the 31st of course, after Halloween.
But Halloween weekend has already passed by the time I'm recording this, so I hope you guys, if you celebrated during Halloween weekend, you had a great time.
(01:13):
I certainly did. I had an incredible birthday party, one of my besties, Pam.
She had her birthday party, but also it was a great Halloween party as well.
And I dressed up as Travis Kelcey, for those of you who wanted to know.
And it was a fun time. I bought the official jersey, even though I don't know anything about American football.
(01:38):
So, yeah.
But I had to fit in the part. I didn't have the mustache, so that's it.
But I did have the friendship bracelets. What the fuck is wrong with me?
But yeah, I did it. I did that. I had very short shorts, like 3 inch shorts.
(01:59):
Yeah, that was, they were really, really short. So that was crazy.
Anyways, today's episode, today's episode we're talking about The Great Impersonator, the newest album by Halsey.
And this was an unexpected one for me, because I'm not, I have to be honest, I'm not really the biggest Halsey fan in the sense that I've never really checked her music out that much.
(02:31):
Even though during the Tumblr days, I did love Badlands and all that.
So, what was that the name of the album as well? I do remember loving that album when I was a kid. Yeah, Badlands, yeah.
I do remember that correctly. But yeah, I still remember, I still know of course who she is.
(02:52):
I've been keeping an eye on her ever since she became famous, during the Tumblr days I said, and Badlands came out and all that.
But yeah, I was not expecting to like this album as much as I did.
This is going to be my first reaction to that album.
(03:14):
So, it's not a review, don't expect it to be a review by any sort or any stretch of imagination.
Because I've only had the album for like a couple days, it came out this Friday, and this past Friday.
And yeah, so I do not pretend to have even the full comprehension unlocked at the moment.
(03:42):
And still, I still need to work on a lot of the tracks on the album.
But by listening to it for a couple of times already, I can already see the potential of the album.
Like the message and the feeling conveyed is actually very strong as well.
So, it really moved me in some shape or form. I cannot stop thinking about it in that sense.
(04:03):
Which is a big sign on my end that the album is special, or there's something really good about it.
And so these are my first thoughts on the album, my first reaction to that.
And also, I'm going to be talking about some of my favorite tracks off of the album.
(04:23):
But of course, as usual, before we get into it, songs of the week.
I'm going to try and spare some spaces because I'm going to be including some of the songs from the album in the playlist of the month.
Which by the way is going to end with this episode, the playlist of October.
Because it's the last episode of the month.
(04:44):
Yeah.
So, first off, we cannot of course end the month without really getting into what happened in terms of...
Well, I would say, Disease by Lady Gaga.
(05:08):
She came out also on Friday with the first single I believe from her upcoming seventh studio album.
And this is sort of like a return to form for Lady Gaga that we've been praying for.
Because as I said, this shit hits hard.
(05:30):
Even on Twitter I was saying that this is OG Lady Gaga in all sorts.
It's so... The Fame Monster I would say, a lot of that as well.
It reminds me a lot of that.
It's just so nice to see her going back to her...
I was scared, to be honest, when she did The Word is Ending.
(05:51):
Even though that's a great song, I can see that.
I just think she was still leaning into that conservative...
To be fair, she can do whatever she wants of course.
She's well beyond recognition at this point.
So she is famous for what she did and all that.
I cannot shake the feeling that she...
(06:13):
It always felt very disingenuous what she did after...
Well, ever since Joanne, I think it was.
Sort of like a different view or a different approach to music.
I don't know.
Then she started going into acting, which is fine, whatever.
I mean, if that's what she wants to pursue, that's great as well.
(06:35):
But then she also did some songs for quite conservative...
Well, I'm talking songs.
I'm just referring to mostly...
Well, to be fair, when she dabbled with a bit of Contra in Joanne,
that was already her choice I would say.
Then the soundtrack she made for Top Gun, I believe, Maverick or something.
(06:59):
I was like, what the fuck are you doing?
You built your audience and you are at your core.
You used to be a very left-wing, queer-loved, I guess,
queer-supported artist and then you...
Whatever.
This feels to me like a good return to form.
(07:22):
There's a lot of creepy elements into the song.
It's like OG Lady Gaga.
Lady Gaga has never been the cool artist that sings about cool or sexy things in that sense.
She can be, of course, if she wants to.
But she's more like that bratty...
She's the OG brat in that sense a bit.
She has a bit of that.
She's a bit of the blueprint for that and the hyper-pop situation.
(07:45):
This is pretty much it.
It's a bit of that gritty sound that, again,
Fame Monster and all that stuff really solidified her sound at the time.
That's pretty much what it is.
Love it.
I loved seeing on Twitter the parallels with The Cure,
(08:07):
the other song that she had, which are basically very similar in message,
but they're approached in different ways.
All The Cure is more like a lovey-dovey type of song,
like a poppy song.
This is more aggressive.
Sort of like, I'm going to be your addiction.
I'm going to cure your disease.
I'm like your Alex Zier.
(08:29):
It's a very aggressive song in that sense.
The production is just incredible.
Very synthy, very hyper-poppy.
I was just waiting for Gaga to come back with something like this.
I'm very excited.
The quality is just incredible.
The vocal performance here is also so theatrical and so aggressive again.
(08:51):
It's a very aggressive song.
I love it.
If you like Brat or hyper-pop space in that sense,
you need to listen to this because this was the original point
from where everything else came after.
I'm going to put it in the playlist.
You can find it, of course, by just typing on Spotify,
(09:15):
the Overshoot Pamphlet Songs of the Week,
Dash October 2024.
Then, speaking of Brat,
we have to talk about Whiplash by Espe.
Probably my favourite track that they have ever put out.
I want to say that.
To me, it even surpasses Supernova, which is a high bar.
(09:39):
But it is so unusual for K-pop to have this sort of sound.
This is not really hyper-poppy, though, I would say.
This is more like Vogue kind of strutting music as well.
It's very techno as well.
It's so good.
I can't.
(10:01):
But I guess it builds off of that Brat aesthetic,
that disgusting dirty girl aesthetic,
but also sort of runaway type of girl.
It's just so good.
There's a lot of camera images here as well,
sort of revoking Von Dutch as well.
(10:22):
You can see that influence in there, of course.
But it's just so good.
The choreo, I've been obsessed with it.
I had to learn it.
I did learn it.
And it was just incredible.
I just love this song.
I cannot stress it enough.
This is probably one of my favourite K-pop releases of the year.
And also, hands down, my favourite Aespa song ever made.
(10:45):
So I might be exaggerating.
Well, not really. I stand by that.
That's a great, great, great track.
The video is also just so cunty.
I cannot.
Whenever I first heard the first snippet on their social media platforms,
I was like, oh, this, I see the vision.
(11:06):
This is gotta be just very niche and very...
Well, to be fair, I've seen...
Well, they're slaying in Korea, of course, in terms of charts,
so they're really doing that.
But this is like so...
And they're like number two everywhere, basically.
Well, they're not number one because number one is APT by Rosé,
(11:28):
which is still dominating worldwide.
But Rosé is blocking them to...
Well, she's gonna stay on there for a while, I believe.
No one is gonna get to number one anyway.
But being number two in that chart right at the moment
is like saying that if APT was not there, they would be number one.
(11:50):
So, yeah.
Incredible song, incredible visuals, everything is just crazy.
But I think it's very niche in terms of vibe,
just the same way, bright as niche in a way.
It has great cultural impact, but it's very much not catering towards everyone,
even older people or general audiences in that sense.
(12:11):
It's more like young people clubbing and all that stuff.
So, yeah.
Great, great, great, great stuff.
And to finish it off, before I get into the album,
I want to put in Headlock by Imogen Heap.
Now, girls, don't get me.
I actually have never really listened to much of Imogen Heap.
(12:35):
I know she's a legend.
And I love it.
But I need to get into the Speak For Yourself album.
That's a 2005 album.
And when I listened to Headlock for the first time yesterday,
I was like, this song could come out today and still be super current.
(12:59):
Even the way it's produced is just insane to me.
It sounds so ahead of its time from when it came out.
It's so good. I cannot stress it enough.
And I know that Speak For Yourself has also another great track
called Good Night and Go, which famously inspired Arden and Granda
to have her own version of it on Sweetener.
(13:21):
But I'm sure there's so much on the album that I will discover.
I'll get into it, of course, maybe after this episode, actually.
But yeah.
It's crazy.
So yeah, just listen to the song.
(13:42):
It's a 2005 track again, but it's just so good.
So well produced, so well sung.
Melodies wise, it's just so catchy.
I just cannot believe it.
Imogen Heap, a legend for a reason.
Yeah.
But I don't want to go too overboard with this.
(14:03):
I want to stick to the plan, which is, of course,
my first reaction to The Great Impersonator.
So before we get into the actual thing, like the album overall,
I think it's important to just acknowledge first the fact that this album
is her first album since her 2021 album, If I Can Have Love, I Want Power.
(14:31):
And so there was a space of three years between these two albums.
And it's important to note what happened in her life,
because a lot has happened in these three years.
And so she gave birth to a child, struggled with lupus and the disease,
(14:54):
and also discovered a T cell disorder.
So she was diagnosed with that as well.
And so you can imagine that her life has been pretty much hell for,
well, of course, a lot of joys as well with her, of course, pregnancy and everything,
but also a lot of pain, a lot of very destabilizing news.
(15:15):
And it's just been a very, I mean, you can tell from the album as well.
That's what I'm trying to say that basically these past three years have been very difficult for her.
And she sort of cathartically created this project that is just honestly,
as she said herself, probably one of her most raw confessional songwriting type of album she's ever made.
(15:41):
And I second that. I would say this is probably her most confessional type of writing that she's ever done, to be fair.
She always had this type of singer-songwriter type of vibe to her.
But I think the problem that I never really, which also leads me to why I never really liked,
(16:02):
well, I never really liked her music, but I just never really could attach myself to it that much
is because I think she never really picked a lane herself.
She wasn't really sure where to go and where to head as an artist.
So she dabbled sometimes in some efforts of singer-songwriter material.
But also then she most times also went back to trying to make very digestible and palatable pop, generic pop music.
(16:32):
So it was a bit disorienting because I could have never placed her in any sort of category.
Not that she needs to, but I think it's just like her, I would say, personally in my view,
her more palatable and more generic pop-sounding songs were not really the strongest and were a bit disingenuous.
(16:57):
And as I said time and time again, to make pop music is not an easy thing.
You have to have a secret sauce and you have to know how to be very full-packagy in that sense when it comes to that.
Image-wise and sound-wise and aesthetic and everything, it has to be a proper package.
(17:18):
It's so difficult to produce a pop record, right?
So I always thought that her attempts at doing that were not really the strongest ones
because I don't think she really found her lane in pop music in that sense.
But this, the confessional songwriting, I think really is her strongest suit.
(17:39):
She is an incredible songwriter on this album, I have to be honest.
Probably some of her best writing ever.
The lyrics here, when I tell you I'm so fucking surprised, I am not kidding.
I'm so surprised.
Apart from that, she also was dropped from her previous label.
So it was a combination of so many factors in her life.
(18:02):
I can imagine it must have been crazy for her to just put her feet down and actually pursue this project as well.
So yeah.
First of all, kudos to her for doing all that.
Because it's a very brave and very strong commitment.
(18:25):
And I really commend her for doing that.
Now, let's get to the actual album itself.
Why is it called The Great Impersonator?
Basically, her concept for this was to impersonate several legends, musical heroes, New Jersey new musical legends.
(18:50):
Which include Dolly Parton, sorry, not New Jersey, like she's from New Jersey, but her favorite singer-songwriters.
So she impersonated, leaning up to the album, she impersonated several celebrities, several singer-songwriters.
Including Dolly Parton, David Bowie, Stevie Nicks, Bruce Springsteen, Cher, Britney Spears,
(19:16):
Evanescence, The Cranberries, well, so many of them basically.
And I would say that when she first put out Lucky, the concept of the album to me wasn't really clear at the beginning.
(19:37):
Because I didn't really, I don't think she really explained the first, well she kind of did, I guess.
She called the album The Great Impersonator, I think, before she dropped Lucky, I believe.
But there wasn't much in terms of actual, you know, before actually hearing the full album, her first offering was sort of Lucky.
And Lucky was an okay track, I would say.
(20:01):
And it's more on the generic side, I would say.
But I think in the context of the album, it makes so much sense, the track, and it's so much better.
At the time when it first came out, I was like, I don't know if this is a good idea to impersonate Britney Spears,
and I don't know, to interpret her actual song, Lucky.
But I think, as I said again, in the context of the album, it's actually so smart.
(20:26):
And her photos recreating famous covers from these artists was so smart, marketing-wise, I would say.
Because basically, it turned itself into also a meme.
Because I think every day, for 18 days basically, I think she started teasing the album, and every day she would post,
(20:47):
because there's 18 tracks, so each day she would post a photo of her recreating an album cover of one of the songwriters,
and then also reveal a track from the album, right?
So it was so funny that people then started actually... well, it wasn't funny from the beginning, but...
Wait. Blast me.
(21:08):
But it turned into a full meme, which helped the chatter spread around about the album,
and I think it was a great, great idea for that. That is actually so smart.
So you've seen on Twitter people making edits of her impersonating also people, like, completely different celebrities.
It's just so funny. So, yeah. Just crazy.
(21:35):
And I think the common catchphrase, Halsey impersonating, whoo, blank, became very popular on Twitter in the past few weeks.
So, could've served. That was actually very smart.
But I want to also return to the point of the impersonator itself.
I was thinking that she was going to go for an actual proper impersonation, like actually impersonating the singer itself,
(21:59):
but when it came out that it was going to be a singer-songwriter, like a confessional album,
then I was like, well, how is this going to work out?
Are you going to impersonate the artist, or are you going to just give us your confessional?
I thought I had doubt, to be honest, but I am so glad that it worked so well,
(22:21):
because basically she's not actually impersonating the artist themselves.
It's more like she's sort of taking their sounds, I guess, but molding into her and to her own songwriting.
And I think what really pulls the album together is that it's so cohesive, both thematically, but also, I think, in a way, production-wise,
because the sound that she's incorporating here is very much like Y2K in that sense, well, year 2000 and 1990s in that sense.
(22:50):
So there's a lot of acoustic guitar ballads and a lot of rock elements and a lot of rock and...
Damn, not the dog.
But anyways, yeah, so it really worked so well, I think, because I would say it's even better than just impersonating and copying previous super famous songwriters.
(23:19):
It's like she's taking the sound and inspiration from them and making a song that could sort of sound, I guess, like it belongs to, I don't know, David Bowie or Dolly Parton or whatever,
but then she's turning it around and adapting it to her own vibe.
And again, the songwriting is what really helps put the entire thing in focus.
(23:42):
So very, very glad about that.
I loved it.
So, yeah, let's get into the business of the tracks.
So I'm not going to go into... Oh, well, before actually, yeah, maybe I want to sort of maybe get out of the way the criticisms that I have.
(24:06):
I think, as I said again, there's quite a lot of, you know, well, I don't know.
I don't want to say like it's a slow album in that sense, but there are a lot of ballads on here.
So automatically for me, it's a bit of a more difficult challenge in that sense, because I have to like get accustomed to the slowness of it all.
(24:34):
And it's going to take a while for me to like really clock all of the tracks in that sense, since there are so many ballads.
I think what really I would have done without a bit was the amount of tracks.
It's 18 tracks, I believe. So that's quite a lot.
That's quite a lot.
(24:55):
But, yeah, maybe I would have done with like a bit like maybe some cuts and like a bit more of a compact.
Yeah, tracklist.
But it's so that's the only minor thing I would say I would change about the album for now.
Maybe I'll change my mind soon, but I really liked the a lot of the like, you know, the thematical subjects that she chose for this.
(25:28):
So like I think, again, as I said, like some writing pulls it all together because of themes explored in the album actually quite consistent and reoccurring in a way.
And the concept is explore, I would say, like fall in some categories, like some specific categories, like most of them are about pain and like the pains of life in general, but also sickness to be specific as well.
(25:55):
And it's not simply also like physical sickness, but also mental mental, you know, mental health related issues.
And there's also there's also a lot of like a lot of depth, I guess, into many of the ballads when it comes to motherhood and fragility of life itself and passage of time.
(26:19):
And like, you know, that like it's a full reflection on life and pain and the condition of the human condition and sprinkled in there.
Well, I guess in like, in a very consistent way is the concept of faith as well.
There's a lot of like a lot of there are a lot of references to heaven, hell, Jesus, God, faith and all that.
(26:47):
And it's not done in like a very, you know, like religious way per se.
But it's just like, you know, it's sort of like speaking about like the low point issue was out and she was like, you know, you know, how do you usually say like whenever you are you are your lowest you turn to like, you know,
(27:11):
things are greater than you to ask for guidance and ask for, you know, help.
And so that's exactly what's the purpose of faith here.
Like you can tell that she turned to like faith and all these things because she was really, really in a very low, low place and she was begging God to help her and to have God, you know, ease her pain or sickness and everything.
(27:37):
So it's quite it's quite, you know, it's quite vulnerable and quite raw.
I said again, it's quite it's quite a sad album as well.
But I think it also in a way not necessarily like you don't necessarily only have to be sad and like, you know, low mood in that sense.
I think in some parts of it also becomes on the on the flip side, it becomes very energetic and almost rageful in some in some sort of in some ways like she's sort of potentially because it's like so desperate.
(28:12):
It's like a desperate call for life and strength that in some in some instances it becomes like very energetic as an album and very, you know,
earnest, I guess, like for life and for strength, which is really, really like beautiful, honestly, to see.
And it fits very well with the entire theme because it is about, you know,
(28:36):
the entire, you know, scope of like the human condition and the sickness of it all, you know.
So, yeah, I really loved the concept. That's why I keep on thinking about it, because like it's a very specific mood that the album puts you in.
It's like a very you can literally see her eye to eye in that sense after listening to this, which is like so like this is the main goal you want to achieve with a confessional songwriting type of album.
(29:05):
So, yeah, so let's get first into like the actual maybe the actual tracks that I enjoyed.
I'm not going to go through all of them because, again, didn't really have the time to explore the album that much.
But I did on my first few listens, the ones that I really, really, 100 percent enjoyed where ego, panic attack, the end.
(29:32):
I never loved you, Lonelys Amuse and The Great Impersonator, which is also a type of track.
And to add on to that, I think the only song that I listened to in terms of singles before the album came out was just Lucky and that's it.
So I didn't listen to ego. I didn't listen to Lonelys Amuse.
So to me, they were all new tracks and I really, really enjoyed them.
(29:55):
So, yeah, I would say like top of the top has to be maybe at the moment panic attack, but also I really like ego.
I don't know. But all the ones that I mentioned are my favorite tracks to be fair off of the album.
So, yeah, let's start first with ego.
Maybe we shall do that. I think is the second track on the album, by the way.
(30:19):
And in terms of the impersonator, the singer songwriter she's impersonating with this one is The Cranberries.
She's impersonating the band The Cranberries.
And the sound of the song is actually, you know, again, very punk pop, punk rockish in that sense.
And it's so, so, so, so good, the sound of the song.
(30:43):
So kudos to Halsey.
Oh, wait, if. Oh, maybe I've been misusing her.
Well, their pronouns, because I think Halsey identifies as a non-binary.
So if I have done so up until now, I apologize.
Just I've not paid attention to it.
But, yeah, they have made such a great, great, great, great, great contribution to this with this song, to the album with this song,
(31:12):
because this is in essence, like if you love.
Like a Y2K punk pop, then this is for you.
But I think what again, what the concept works so well here is that she's impersonating.
They are impersonating. Sorry, I'm trying my best.
They are impersonating The Cranberries, but at the same time, the content is like very non.
(31:34):
Well, The Cranberries do get, I guess they don't really get confessional in that sense.
But Halsey here does get into that space and they get into that.
Even though this is one of the more generic maybe type of tracks, but it's still very confessional in that sense.
So, for example, verse one, just to like highlight some of her incredible songwriting in this album.
(31:58):
I'm caught up in everyday trend, tied up by invisible thread, walking down a razor thin edge and I wake up tired, think I'm better off dead.
So immediately this song opens up, so you know that she's at a very low point, very depressed.
Very, very depressed.
But yeah, so she's, this is like rule number one of, you know, singer songwriting basically, like confessional songwriting.
(32:27):
Like you pick up from a very specific instance, you know, very specific feeling that you have and you narrate your experience, right?
In the most honest way possible, but also by being very concise and effective with your lyrics, right?
(32:49):
So that's what they've done here.
So then they carry on by saying, being a few months since I crossed over straight lines, talked to my mom, fake smile over FaceTime, drink all night till I can't walk in a straight line, feel so low, but I'm high at the same time.
So, so good. So, the lyrics are so fucking good. I cannot.
So it's sort of like, you know, already you can tell from these lyrics that they are basically talking about them faking basically their happiness and like not trying to worry their parents and their mom.
(33:25):
So there's a lot of that and, you know, drink all night till I can walk in a straight line, feel so low, but I'm high at the same time, problems with addiction and all that stuff. So very serious stuff here as well.
And then I love the chorus as well.
It's mostly about killing your own, they say basically, I think that I should try to kill my ego because if I don't, my ego might kill me.
(33:52):
I'm all grown up, but somehow lately I'm acting like a fucking baby. I'm really not as happy as I seem.
They realize basically that the source of their unhappiness is basically their own ego in that sense.
And the only way for them to like move forward and be happy and try to achieve that happiness is to kill their own ego.
Because if they don't, then the ego will kill them. This desperate, you know, need and feeling of, you know, trying to appease their ego is not, is never going to be enough. Right?
(34:26):
So, yeah, I think also in a way I've seen from Genius that Halsey here was sort of referencing their own, well, bipolar disorder, I think they have.
Let me double check. Yeah. Bipolar disorder when they were a teen. So, yeah, they could still continue to struggle with it.
(34:52):
And so there is this dichotomy between the ego, the like, eater alive, but also the other side of their own mental, you know, awareness that recognizes the issue.
And they know they're better off by killing this very toxic form of scrutiny, self-scrutiny. So, yeah.
(35:19):
I really like the second verse as well.
Period. Period. Period. Period. Again, if you love a bit of punk rock, that song is for you. That song is for you. That song is for you.
(35:53):
Panic Attack is my favorite track, which is the next one I want to talk about.
This one is inspired by Stevie Nicks, I believe. Let me find it. Panic Attack. Yeah. So, so good. So good.
(36:14):
Again, this is more, this is a bit of a different take on self-loathing in a way, because here they say basically that they cannot recognize the feeling.
They cannot distinguish between like love or panic attack. Is it love or a panic attack? They say in the chorus. Is it is a heavy heart too much to hold? I don't know, but it's late, so I'm taking you home.
(36:41):
Is it love or a panic attack? Would you mind if I asked you on the phone? I don't know, but it's late, so I'm taking you home.
In the verses, she opens up about going to the doctor, left a note on his machine because I tripped when we went walking and I fell in my spleen.
Now I think I need a blood test or an antihistamine because you make me fucking nervous and I don't know what it all means.
(37:04):
I guess here is also in a way, sort of trauma from their previous experiences with previous partners.
It's basically the same concept of like loving someone that makes you have butterflies and feel anxious, but you cannot really feel comfortable with this person, right?
(37:26):
Like you cannot distinguish the feeling, right? So very relatable, very relatable, very relatable, very relatable.
Yeah. But again, there's a lot of opening up about their own mental health.
In the first verse, they say my body carries sadness that my brain cannot see and I've been holding onto the memories in my stomach and my teeth.
(37:48):
I think here is also sort of like, again, the spleen on trauma, past trauma. And then they go on by saying like, and both my shoulders have been burdened by the weight of my mistakes.
And every time you're leaning closer, both my knees can help, can help us shake.
So yeah, experiencing, you know, a lot of trauma, PTSD. Ooh.
(38:10):
But yes, the song of this song is just incredible. It's like a typical Stevie Nicks sort of type of beat. Beat. I don't want to call it beat, but production.
It's just so, so, so good. Please listen to this one. I think this one, I'm going to put this one in ego, I think, in my place of the month, because these two are probably my top two.
(38:33):
Again, here you can see that I really like the more upbeat numbers, but there are a couple of balls that I really enjoyed. I'm going to get to them in a second.
Let me add them up. Let me add them up. So panic attack period.
And also, Ego. There we go. Yeah. So incredible song.
(39:04):
Before I get to the next track, I just want to point out one second, just like reminded myself of that, that on the album there are three interludes, I would say, called Letter to God 1974, Letter to God 1983, and Letter to God 1998.
And these are all, you know, again, as I like her turning to God to ask God to basically help them to solve like, you know, ease their pain or whatever specifically.
(39:38):
And it's an evolution of things because the first one, they're asking, I don't want to go to grandma's, so I'm quiet on the drive. I don't want to go to grandma's, so I'm quiet on the drive.
And they go into, please God, I want to be sick. Please God, I want to be sick. I don't want to.
I want to be loved. Please God, I want to be loved. I want to be sick. So basically, here's like, you know, sort of explaining her original like, you know, like when she was young, she's like, well, they're turning back to when they were younger, basically.
(40:18):
So it's like sort of their reminiscence on past memories of that.
So, I have like that concept, I guess, of like pain and everything else and like a drive to grandma's house.
I don't want to go to grandma's, so I'm quiet on the drive. I saw a deer that must have gotten hit. It made me start to cry.
(40:41):
Did he have a mom and a dad and do they argue just like mine? So there's a lot of it like, you know, they're explaining a lot about their childhood traumas again here.
So, yeah, and so then they turn to God because, well, they have suicidal thoughts here, basically.
(41:02):
His God, I want to be sick. I want to hurt, so I'll get it over with quick. So basically, they want God to like, you know, end her pain of like a hurt, like feeling these emotions.
So they'd rather be sick and they'd rather be done with life because they've had enough of experiencing these emotions.
(41:25):
Then this turns into in the next interlude, it turns into a different concept of faith and like sickness as well in Latter-day God 1983.
It's like here is more like, I would say maybe in her teenage years, maybe.
(41:50):
I left home and moved to Brooklyn where my boyfriend had a place and he had track marks on his arms, but had the most angelic face.
So it's about, you know, toxic love and all that stuff. I don't want to. I watched my friends die before 21 and now I'm 28.
I'm at a doctor every day because I cannot stop losing weight and now I'm one with needles in my arms and my legs.
I'm making jokes about the blood test and I'm planning my estate. So there's a lot of that, you know, very bad stuff.
(42:17):
And the chorus goes into, please God, I don't want to be sick and I don't want to hurt. So get it over with quick.
So it's here, it's flipping it around. Instead of I want to be sick, it's I don't want to be sick and I don't want to hurt.
Please God, I want to be loved. I don't want to be somebody that you're trying to get rid of.
And so there is that once they've actually experienced more, I would say, serious pain and serious, you know, physical sickness in that sense,
(42:48):
Halsey becomes scared, I guess, of the sickness and they're pleading God not to, you know, make them sick in that sense and to finish this cycle of pain.
And in the last one, Let it Go out in 1998, they go into a newer one, which is now after she gave birth to her child, which is so sweet to see.
(43:09):
They start also questioning faith in that sense and in the refrain they go into, please God or whoever you are.
So it's a bit of like, you know, that is actually quite interesting as well.
And the verses, these days I get less calls because no one wants to hear my voice.
I miss the days when I was getting taxes that I could just avoid and I've been trying to be calm and not preemptive of destroy.
(43:31):
Every time I mean the real words, not paranoid and stay home by my lonesome with my little baby boy and I watch him on the kitchen floor.
He's playing with his toys and I don't ever want to leave him, but I don't think it's my choice.
So that's a lot of that more adult commentary on that.
And the chorus goes into, please God, oh, you've got to be sick. Why do you make it hurt? And why is it over so quick?
(43:56):
Please God, I'm finally loved. I finally found somebody I don't want to get rid of.
So it changes another step further in that sense.
And they discovered a love, an unconditional love that they have for their own child.
And they blame God for making them hurt so much when they have to be separated and all that stuff.
(44:20):
So, yeah, crazy stuff.
And they feel anxious about, of course, Halsey feels anxious about their boy, their baby boy, you know, possibly being sick.
So, yeah, they want the best for them in that sense, which is really nice.
OK, now let's get to the other tracks before we run out of time.
(44:42):
Next one is The End.
Here, I believe, I think from Instagram, I think Halsey here is impersonating Johnny Mitchell.
And also, side note, they've said in some of her posts that it's also their favorite lyricist of all time.
(45:04):
Very fitting because this is a very nice homage to Johnny Mitchell.
This is one of my favorite ballads on the album. On the album, first, like, listen immediately.
So verse one, for example, every couple of years now, a doctor says I'm sick, pulled out a brand new bag of tricks and they laid it on me.
(45:25):
And at first it was my brain and then a skeleton in pain. I don't like to complain, but I'm saying sorry.
So, again, here's the theme of sickness and in this sense also physical sickness.
And there's a lot about like medicine, doctors and curing and curing your disease and everything.
But the bigger question in the song is meeting a person you think is right for yourself and questioning whether they can stick around in the long run,
(45:57):
even if the worst comes to you, basically, right?
So if you're feeling like you're going to experience something really bad, you start to wonder if that person is going to stay by your side or not.
And so Halsey goes into the chorus which says if you knew it was the end of the world, could you love me like a child?
Could you hold me in the dark? If you knew it was the end of the world, would you like to stay for a while?
(46:22):
Would you leave when it gets hard?
So, again, knowing the previous context of the trauma that they've had with their previous lovers and everything else,
and their parents possibly having a lot of fights when they were a kid, it makes so much sense.
And paired with the very hard time they've had with being an only mother and having to raise a child for a while by themselves is just quite a lot.
(46:53):
But yeah, verse 2.
So I ran into the clinic and I asked to see the man with his white coat and his seroscope like a snake around his hand.
And I told him I'm not bitter because I finally found a lover who's better for my liver and now I'll finally recover.
That's so sweet, I love it.
I finally found a lover who's better for my liver and now I'll finally recover.
(47:15):
When I met him, that's the pre-chorus, I thought I was damaged goods from a real bad neighborhood.
So we wrestle in the mud and I told him he could stay right where he stood, but I don't know if he should.
Because once my God destroys the flesh, then there's the flood.
But this is a beautifully written one, it's a very nice ballad as well.
(47:37):
Love the melodies here.
And I think it's mostly like acoustic guitar, which is very, very sweet, very well composed.
Loved it so much.
Next, next, next, next, I Never Loved You.
I Never Loved You is impersonating Kate Bush in this one.
(48:04):
But more like the ballad-y Kate Bush, I would say.
Not the energetic Kate Bush, but yeah.
Another incredible track.
Let me see if I can get the lyrics up.
(48:25):
But yeah, Never Loved You, I Never Loved You, that again, as I said, it's one of the great, I think,
well, that Halsey put on this album.
They're cutting her up on the operating table, but it wasn't enough.
The front desk pages, it's a call for ages.
They couldn't save her, they couldn't save her.
(48:47):
As I just said, she had a hole in her heart, but it wasn't her fault.
It was there from the start.
Period.
Trying to love you through an open wound, because everything I put inside there just fell right through.
And I held the parts together with some pressure and glue, and you're running in slow-mo to the hospital room.
If you only knew, how bad it hurt me too.
Crazy stuff, crazy shit, crazy shit.
(49:09):
It's, again, like the themes of like, you know, doctors, health, sickness, and all that stuff.
Halsey's character, well, I think they're still talking about themselves in a way, but it's sort of like a character in third person, whatever.
But in this song, this character may be attempting to relieve or excuse the significant other in the situation
for spending the money simply because Halsey never loved him, basically.
(49:31):
So now you can take the money, they say, you can get on a plane to a beautiful island, build a house in my name,
you can donate all the money to somebody in pain, and you can rest your head down and not feel any shame.
I never loved you, I never loved you, I never loved you in vain.
So, yeah, like that is a real, real good track.
(49:54):
It's just really, like, really, really good, honestly.
Like, loved this one so much.
Let me get to the next one, which is...
Ooh, sorry.
The next one is Lonely is the Muse.
(50:18):
This is inspired by the, by Evanescence.
This song is so, so good.
It's like very, like almost metal rock, I would say.
Almost metal rock.
Evanescence go with it, like very rockish, very, very, very cool.
And in this...
(50:41):
I like the concept of this one because it talks about, like...
Well, here, Halsey compares himself to like a martyr and to Jesus, basically.
I always knew I was a martyr and that Jesus was one too, but I was built from special pieces that I learned how to unscrew.
And I can always reassemble to fit perfectly for you or anybody that decides that I'm of use.
Here, basically, Halsey is comparing themselves to sort of a moldable tool that can be discarded in their own opinion after they've been used, right?
(51:19):
And they start questioning, where do I go after I'm done with this?
Like when I'm just on a parade, as they say in the second verse, I've been a Muse.
I've been, you know, inspiring a lot of great art for myself after, you know, people are done with me.
Or maybe their lover, they're done with them.
(51:43):
Like, what are they going to do?
They're just going to be discarded, but they can always fit and rearrange their parts to fit someone else, right?
So, yeah, reduced to a body, hearing someone else's bad is just, you know, very, it's a very interesting take on it.
I think genius, for example, said about the martyr, about the martyr line that basically a martyr is someone who sacrifices themselves for the sake of the principle, I guess.
(52:17):
Jesus suffered basically in order to save sinners and Halsey's case, they had to sacrifice their condition that she would get from the work in order to receive love.
But this love is not like a real one.
It's like, you know, they've had to tolerate partners who were not in, you know, were not loving them in the best interest in that sense.
(52:42):
And the media focuses more on like the demand that they've, like, you know, Halsey has dated more than the art itself.
So sort of, yeah, the martyr in this case is just like, you know, sacrificing recognition and, you know, the fame from the art for the sake of love.
(53:04):
A love that is not, you know, actually fulfilling, which is very sad, but slayful.
And yeah, it's very rageful track, very rageful track.
So go listen to this one. It's really, really good.
And to close off, the great impersonator, this inspired, I believe, by Bjork.
(53:25):
And this is also the title track, which is very, very fitting because it's like a very like it plays a lot on like the theme of the impersonator.
It's a great like, you know, homage to Bjork as well, the way she holds these things in this one is just very Bjork reminiscent.
So we loved that. It's very cool stuff.
(53:48):
Let me see if I can get up the lyrics.
I think this is the last track on the standard edition of the album.
There is an extra track, but I've never listened to that.
But yeah, so in the great impersonator, no one has to know I could always hide, but sometimes it might get to me.
Things on all your minds like they don't know I'm lonely, they don't know I'm kind.
So the thing is the great impersonator in this song specifically is them acting as a, you know, as a perfect celebrity or, you know, always happy and always perfect and everything else.
(54:23):
Again, here is another link to the tool imagery, like being a tool or being an object in the pre-chorus.
They say like I promise that I'm fine, but then I redesign and put myself together like some little Frankenstein.
So there's like underlining thing about all these is that they're very good at faking their emotional well-being and then they like break themselves apart to like fit any sort of imagery in that sense, which is really interesting here.
(54:58):
And it fits very well with the great impersonator as well, like the image of that.
The chorus is so funny.
So there's like Halsey also trying to look back at her legacy and seeing what's left of it and, you know, hoping that they can recognize her skill as a great impersonator, I would say maybe.
(55:27):
And yeah, and hoping also that the music that she has produced in these years can live beyond their own life, can go well beyond and can be, you know, a legacy that can be celebrated, celebrated long term.
And girl, I have to tell you, this album will be celebrated, will be remembered because this is probably your magnet, I would say.
(55:49):
So, so good. So happy to see it.
But yeah, these are the tracks that I really, really enjoyed.
The great impersonator is more like, it's not really a ballad, so it's more in between, I guess.
Well, it's a typical Bjork sound, sounding track. It's very weird, but I loved it. Kind of cool.
So yeah, give it a go. I put two songs in there that you could like probably listen to. They're a bit more plausible, but yeah, incredible.
(56:14):
I'm so impressed, so impressed by Halsey, by this album. I didn't expect it to like it as much as it did, so pleasantly surprised.
But anyways, hope you guys have a great end of the month. And if you celebrate Halloween on the 31st, hope you have a great Halloween day.
And I'll catch you up with the next episode. First episode of the month, next time.
(56:36):
So, for November, we're getting there. Christmas is almost here. Bye!
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