I first started listening to Halsey on YouTube in the fall of 2015. By coincidence, her debut album, Badlands, was released around that same time. I was in a really dark place fighting depression and Crohn's disease and I found comfort in this concept album that was about people being trapped in a post apocalyptic society surrounded by desert land that keeps them there...knowing they should desperately try to escape, yet finding a weird sense of comfort there. Halsey created this world around the Badlands, which I used as a metaphor for my life. I've never felt more connected to music, nor have I felt so understood by music before.
This Friday, Halsey's new album Hopeless Fountain Kingdom comes out!!! In true Halsey fashion, this is also a concept album. She describes Hopeless Fountain Kingdom as a purgatory kind of like LOST. You know, my favorite TV show of all time! In the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast featuring Halsey, the Badlands are described as being the mortal realm above the Hopeless Fountain Kingdom. While I've listened to the songs that have been released from the album (I'll post links below), I am most excited to be able to listen to all of the songs on Hopeless Fountain Kingdom in order so that I can piece together the concept and interpret the story being told for myself. I've already got tickets for her HFK Tour and I can't wait to see her bring the Hopeless Fountain Kingdom to life! If you're looking for me, I'll be getting lost in the Hopeless Fountain Kingdom.
There are definitely Romeo and Juliet vibes in her "Now or Never" music video: https://youtu.be/kzQTc0-iBX8
No doubt she can sing in the stripped version of "Eyes Closed": https://youtu.be/joN23n_e5hk
"To be touched / To be loved / To feel anything at all" - Halsey ft. Lauren Jauregui "Strangers": https://youtu.be/e3hjpNuvapQ
