If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power - new Halsey album produced by Trent and Atticus

[Ruined]

I’m not shocked, but the thing I find interesting about so much of this conversation is how it’s framed as “TR+AR going pop” and not “Halsey going dark” (for lack of a better genre description). From the little bit we’ve heard and seen, it seems very obvious they were chosen for a reason and that their sonic fingerprint is going to be all over the thing. That why they’re there. I feel like I getting this vibe from everyone worried that this is somehow going to water down NIN or it’s the two of them selling out and changing everything, when the inverse is probably true and they were chosen as producers to have a large degree of input. You don’t make that choice and then impose rules on it (or you do, and that’s stupid, but hopefully that’s not true here). We’re prejudging and assuming it’s a pop album because of Halsey, but we don’t even know for sure that it is.

I dig this view. On a side note, with all the stans fearing a pop NIN album on the horizon, I hope we finally get a proper Strobe Light release.

[Krazy]

Pop has always followed the trends. It's basically short for "Popular" after all.

I think most people here are referring to pop as the genre of music. Otherwise we can lump so many bands into one thing it wouldn’t make sense. Tool (popular!) doesn’t have much in common with Taylor Swift (also popular!!!).

[variablebitrate]

I like the "Halsey going dark" mentality much better for the discussions so far. I'm a Halsey fan as well as plenty of other pop acts out there. From what I have seen and know of Halsey, she has been all over the place musically in her career: EDM backing sounds, pop punk, acoustic "rock", and plenty more. Having TR+AR on board with hew new album's production makes sense as not only is she a NIN fan...but also seems to be the "trend" as of late with a lot of the not-so mainstream indie pop acts. A lot of them have been embracing heavier and darker sounds and have been making a bigger splash with not only their own fanbases but also reached to others. It may have been mentioned previously here, but look at Poppy. She started out as what could be considered pop music and now she's evolved and veered into an industrial trap-metal sound.

Pop music these days is not what it used to be what some of us 90's kids heard back in those days. Shit has changed and been changing so fast it's oftentimes impossible to keep up.

I feel like I’m seeing more and more of this in even bigger artists. I feel like Billie Eilish’s first album fits better on a playlist with like Bjork and Massive Attack than say Britney Spears, Taylor Swift is selling massive units doing a more indie type thing, and the opening track to Olivia Rodrigo’s album sounds like Muse. I think there’s been a bit of a sea change in pop music, too, that anyone who has that 90s mindset is missing. Not everything, but a lot of things, Halsey included, have jumped out at me as of late where I’ve been like “this is top 40?” I think it’s an interesting time in music and it makes sense to me this is happening now. Not everyone has to like it, of course, but it should also be viewed for what it is, which we don’t know yet. But the trends seem more favorable than not.

[Magnetic]

It's a good thought. On the flipside, maybe the environment that made 90s music great (favoring "alternative" music) are coming back in fashion. It could be the powers that be are tapping back into the "alternative" vein because 2000s/2010s pop music is played out? And coincidentally, that alternative bent is more dark, more tapping into the disenfranchisement of what's currently going on in the world than what has occurred over the last two decades.

[variablebitrate]

Some reputable spots showing that a Spotify Exclusive LP of this went up a little too early (and have been pulled down for now) with the code TEMP0824364 and a release date of August 31.

[Jon]

I hope this is okay...

I went ahead and bundled the contents of the iichliwp instagram, the billboard teaser from Halsey's twitter, and the 2 sound clips from the lxxxxp.com website. "sound.mp3" and "17seconds.m4a" were grabbed directly from the website source code. The billboard teaser is the source .mp4, not the .m4v; .aac audio remuxed to .m4a using ffmpeg:

https://mega.nz/folder/L44HkYJC#4lK1Bg8Gh_VIPQPlJchl2g

[WorzelG]

Some reputable spots showing that a Spotify Exclusive LP of this went up a little too early (and have been pulled down for now) with the code TEMP0824364 and a release date of August 31.

Thank God, I thought we were going to have to wait till November! I just hope this isn’t Halsey’s flop era as the pop stans say

[halo eighteen]

That's probably just a placeholder; Aug 31 is a Tuesday. Albums come out on Fridays worldwide now.

[Jon]

Artwork reveal and release date announcement on July 7th; new website...

loveandpower.com

[variablebitrate]

That's probably just a placeholder; Aug 31 is a Tuesday. Albums come out on Fridays worldwide now.

I though the same thing, honestly, but given what's above we'll know the answer pretty soon.

Also, there's a new billboard in New York, as per Halsey's IG story today.

[jhulud]

There's a site now with a countdown:

If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power (loveandpower.com)

[allegro]

That's the really funny part about this to me...based on the [VERY SHORT] clips and the billboard imagery it really seems like they've pulled her closer to their sound rather than them trying to fit themselves into something poppy. I say that with the assumption that Halsey was a willing, probably enthusiastic, party in that evolution. Bottom line is people are going to bitch about literally everything and at the end of the day no one is going to pull your NINcard if you don't like this piece or that piece of TR output...although maybe we should consider it if it tones down the noise. I digress...

Yeah, most of the criticism I've seen on Twitter is "Oh, great, Reznor is going to make Halsey sound like NIN." Not the other way around.

I really like Halsey's voice.

But I was really blown away when she did this upside-down painting while singing "Eastside" on SNL.

[suprefan]

Thank God, I thought we were going to have to wait till November! I just hope this isn’t Halsey’s flop era as the pop stans say

wouldve flopped already 3 albums in. And if its out in Aug for sure then this album has been a thing for a lot longer than even that blurb in May. You have to put your vinyl orders in almost a year in advance to get it on time now. So dont sleep on the pre orders cause youll have to wait til next year on a new variant.

[WorzelG]

I just saw an Instagram story from Halsey that she is ready to drop her baby. I feel sorry for her, this is going to be tough handling being a new mother and a new album cycle. I imagine the LP was begun and THEN she got pregnant not the other way around, it makes me wonder when this whole project was begun

[WorzelG]

Read a theory on the Halsey Reddit that this could be a visual album (something to do with one of the accounts following IMAX)

[Jon]

I just saw an Instagram story from Halsey that she is ready to drop her baby. I feel sorry for her, this is going to be tough handling being a new mother and a new album cycle. I imagine the LP was begun and THEN she got pregnant not the other way around, it makes me wonder when this whole project was begun

[paul_guyet]

1. Tension Blu-Ray
2. The Fragile 5.1
3. Bleedthrough
4. WT Tentative Sequence tracks
5. Tapeworm

[suprefan]

I just saw an Instagram story from Halsey that she is ready to drop her baby. I feel sorry for her, this is going to be tough handling being a new mother and a new album cycle. I imagine the LP was begun and THEN she got pregnant not the other way around, it makes me wonder when this whole project was begun

lol, so an entire record label, management, pr etc cant hold down the fort whenever the time comes that Halsey has to give birth and then subsequently take care of a newborn? There arent going to be any mandatory tv appearances or performances coming up so I think everythings going to be fine. Think youre underestimating how this was all planned out and that a pregnancy ( for a person who has had prior difficulties with conceiving ) is somehow an obstacle to overcome when promoting forthcoming music. Lets ask Beyonce and Adele how that went and things sure worked out didnt they.

[cdm]

Not directed at anyone or any comment in particular...but do we have to speculate on her decision to have a child?

[WorzelG]

Not directed at anyone or any comment in particular...but do we have to speculate on her decision to have a child?

I’m only speculating on whether she was already pregnant when starting the record, not questioning her decisions! Anyway Halsey clearly shares a lot of personal stuff on her Instagram so I wouldn’t imagine her giving a fuck?

[Toadflax]

I'm looking forward to this record, but this video is pretentious as hell so far.

[jhulud]

How much more of this video do we have to watch before we get the cover art?!?!? Geez...I like museums and art but this is non-sense.

[paul_guyet]

I'm looking forward to this record, but this video is pretentious as hell so far.

JUST thinking the same thing. If I wanted to see a half naked pregnant woman wandering around the Met.......I wouldn't. I would not ever want to see that. I'll check back in when there's music.

[paul_guyet]

...maybe she's lost?

[Toadflax]

JUST thinking the same thing. If I wanted to see a half naked pregnant woman wandering around the Met.......I wouldn't. I would not ever want to see that. I'll check back in when there's music.

You seem to be more offended by the pregnant female form than the fact this is just an overlong video to just reveal the album art and release date.

[Merriweather]

This is pretty tedious. We get that you're pregnant and having all the feels. Just show the artwork already.

Edit - I guess there will have to be boob and censored boob cover variants for different retailers.

[cdm]

Well, that was certainly....something.

[WorzelG]

When she made this announcement of the artwork reveal one of her fans said ‘are you going to make us watch you paint for 7 hours like last time’, so it sounds like something she does! And clearly they do do that

[jhulud]

Interesting cover art. But where's the release date and info?

[Toadflax]

I'm guessing we'll get a release date in the next bit, but you'd think they'd at least put it in the damn video. Frustrating.