Album review: Halsey’s ‘The Great Impersonator’ marks one of the artist’s best releases to date

Evelyn Cassady
Tue, 29 Oct 2024 02:29:20 +0000
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Halsey releases fifth studio album, “The Great Impersonator” on all streaming platforms on Oct. 25. Credit: Samantha Harden | Arts & Life Editor

“The Great Impersonator,” pop singer Halsey’s fifth studio album, is a bold and introspective body of work exploring difficult topics like mortality, suicide, chronic illness and abuse.?

With sprawling lyrics and impressive production quality, “The Great Impersonator” will likely be regarded as one of Halsey’s best albums to date, if not the best.

For many albums, verbosity can be a fatal flaw; however, in Halsey’s “The Great Impersonator,” the length and density of the album — which features 18 songs and spans more than one hour — makes it all the more masterful and offers listeners a personal glimpse into Halsey’s innermost feelings.?

The primary exposure many fans had to “The Great Impersonator” came from Halsey’s marketing campaign.?

Aligning perfectly with the album’s title, Halsey took to social media in the days leading up to its release, sharing photographs of herself impersonating artists who’ve inspired her. Some of these notable influences include Dolly Parton, Kate Bush, Cher, David Bowie, Dolores O’Riordan, Stevie Nicks, Bruce Springsteen, Britney Spears and Fiona Apple.?

In some cases, artists focus too heavily on an album’s marketing, leaving the content lacking in quality, but this was certainly not the case for Halsey.?

Considering the lighthearted marketing, it came as a shock that “The Great Impersonator” was so incredibly raw and emotional. Consistent with its premise, the album focuses heavily on Halsey’s lifelong struggles with self-image and the desire to be different.

The album opens with “Only Girl in LA,” a track boasting melancholic acoustic guitar instrumentals and haunting vocals that immediately inform listeners “The Great Impersonation” will not be a jovial listen.?

Containing heavy lyrics such as, “I wake up everyday in some new kind of suffering; I’ve never known a day of peace,” and “I wake up every day and wish that I was different,” the song artfully introduces the album’s central themes of impersonation and Halsey’s insecurities.?

The record’s third track, “Dog Days,” marks a transition from descriptions of Halsey’s intense doubts to even darker themes like suicidal ideation and feelings of worthlessness.?

Over eerie acoustic instrumentals and moving background vocals, Halsey sings: “I’m a loser, I’m a loner. Won’t you shoot me in the yard? Put me down like a lame horse or send me to the farm where all the dogs go.”

Throughout the album, Halsey repeatedly shares fears about never being loved, singing the same lyric — “Please God, I wanna be loved. I don’t wanna be somebody that they wanna get rid of” —?on the fourth track, “Letter to God (1974)”; eighth track, “Letter to God (1983)” and 17th track, “Letter to God (1998).”?

This fear is also expressed on the album’s 11th track, “Darwinism,” with the powerful lyrics, “There’s lots of fish out in the pond. In the oceans and the rivers and in all the waterfalls. But if I’m made for land and not the sea at all. Could I crawl and find some kind Neanderthal.”

Halsey also describes her struggles with chronic illness, having been diagnosed with both lupus and a rare T-cell Lymphoproliferative Disorder.?

Throughout the album, Halsey expresses a great amount of apprehension and fear about living with these diseases, singing, “Please God, I don’t wanna be sick,” on “Letter to God (1983)” and “When I met you, I said I would never die, but the joke was always mine ‘cause I’m racing against time,” on the album’s sixth track, “The End.”

Among the wide array of difficult topics addressed on the album, perhaps the most haunting is Halsey’s depiction of her childhood experiences with abuse.?

Describing the abuse she dealt with at the hands of her father, Halsey sings, “It’s strange now that he’s grey and getting older by the day and my eyes tell me that he’s harmless despite what my heart has to say,” and “I’ll perpetually believe that any man who says he loves me is hidin’ something up his sleeve,” on “Hurt Feelings.”?

This emotional confession provides a foundation for “The Great Impersonator,” explaining the root of Halsey’s struggles with self-worth and their need to “impersonate” others due to the insecurities and trauma instilled in them from a young age.

The album’s final track — and title track — expertly closes out the record with a repetition of the lyric, “In here lies the great impersonator,” showcasing Halsey’s struggle to embrace authentic self-love.

With evocative production quality and striking lyrics, “The Great Impersonator” firmly establishes itself as one of the best albums of 2024 as well as a beautiful addition to Halsey’s discography.

Rating: 4.5/5