Album Review: Halsey - Manic

Time for another album review and this week I have chosen to do Halsey's incredible third album Manic. I am a massive fan of Halsey I love everything she does so it wasn't surprising that I was not only excited for this album but absolutely love it aswell. This album continued to build upon Halsey's success becoming her highest charting album in the UK peaking at number 6, where her first album Badlands peaked at number 9 and second album hopeless fountain kingdom peaked at number 12. In the US it went to number 2 giving a third top 2 album in a row, hopeless fountain kingdom went to number 1, and in Australia Manic became Halsey's third number 2 album. It also went top 10 in four other countries and top 40 in another three. Manic has also spawned three top 40 singles Without Me, number 3 in UK, number 1 in US, number 2 in Australia and top 40 in 6 other countries, Graveyard, number 29 in UK, number 34 in US, number 24 in Australia and top 40 in three other countries, and You Should Be Sad, number 12 in UK, number 26 in US, number 4 in Australia and top 40 in four other countries.

One of the things that is so good about Halsey is she has a very unique voice with a bit of a rasp and an interesting vocal range that makes her brand of electropop really great to listen to and definitely makes her stand out from other artist quite a bit. After loving Halsey's first two albums and playing them repeatedly her third album definitely matches up continuing to show of her talent and versatility. On this album there are three collaborations, they are with American rapper Dominic Fike, Canadian singer Alanis Marissette and South Korean singer-rapper Suga from the K-pop band BTS. What's most interesting about these three collaborations is that they are very different and they each integrate the featured artists style with Halsey's, showing again her versatility. I have heard music from all three artists before but never fully got into them, however these collaborations have given me a new appreciation for all of them. Dominic Fike is a more recent artists and I have enjoyed most of what I have heard but here he displays how well he can sing more than his rapping, especially when he harmonises with Halsey, my only problem is it's too short. I always forget how powerful Alanis Morissette's voice is but they really took full advantage of it in this song and Halsey matched the power making the harmonies in the chorus a powerhouse. Then there is Suga, honestly I am not a fan of BTS as a band but I have always appreciated Suga's parts of their songs, here he shows how great he is on his own, I especially love that he raps in Korean and it fits perfectly with Halsey's singing. With this song being quite stripped back with really calm music it also allows both artists to really show off the softer aspect of their voices.
My favourite song on Manic is Finally // Beautiful Stranger, I didn't know I could love Halsey any more and then she released this song which is so pure, beautiful and flawless that she has elevated even higher in my opinion. Firstly this song is literally Halsey and a guitar which allows her to really show off her voice and put every ounce of emotion into it, expressing it so effortlessly and powerfully while keeping her voice soft. The arrangement and purity of Halsey's voice perfectly match with the lyrics, being about finding the perfect person who makes you feel safe enough to fall in love with, it is just perfection when it all comes together easily making it one of the best songs I have heard.
Honourable mention for this album go to You Should Be Sad and Without Me. You Should Be Sad is an amazing song, with Halsey infusing elements of country music with her usual style plus the aggressive lyrics about an ex lover delivered in such a controlled way really make this come together incredibly. Halsey really let's the uniqueness of her voice take the lead here in a calm controlled way while still bringing across all the disdain for the person who cheated on her and broke her heart. Then we have Without Me, another break up song that can apply to a relationship or friendship equally, it covers how supportive Halsey has been to whoever and how they just threw her away afterwards as if they can be just as good without her. The style of this song is different again this type infusing elements of R&B with Halsey's electropop style, really making this sound quite melancholic and getting across the point while sounding more annoyed than bitter with Halsey's voice perfectly matching the rising and falling rhythm.

To finish it is time for my ratings of each song;
1. Ashley - 8/10
2. Clementine - 8/10
3. Graveyard - 9/10
4. You Should Be Sad - 9.5/10
5. Forever - 7.5/10
6. Dominic's Interlude ft Dominic Fike - 8/10
7. I Hate Everybody - 8/10
8. 3AM - 9/10
9. Without Me - 9.5/10
10. Finally // Beautiful Stranger - 10/10
11. Alanis' Interlude ft Alanis Morissette - 9.5/10
12. Killing Boys - 8.5/10
13. Suga's Interlude ft Suga - 9/10
14. More - 8/10
15. Still Learning - 8.5/10
16. 929 - 9/10

I would love to know what you think of Halsey and this album compared to her others, do you love her as much as me?