“long story short, i’m Lucky to be alive. short story long, i wrote an album.”
That was how Halsey kicked off the rollout cycle in early June for her fifth studio album, “The Great Impersonator.” Since then, Halsey has pioneered a monumentally notable marketing campaign.
The artist took on the persona of a different musical star who influenced a track on the album, such as Stevie Nicks, Aaliyah, and Dolly Parton. The new album is the culmination of Halsey’s harrowing experiences as she dealt with her diagnosis of both Lupus and a rare T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder.
With a runtime of an hour and six minutes, the album is incredibly vulnerable and gut-wrenching. Halsey utilizes her music to come to terms with her diagnosis, treatment, and the very likely fact that she could be leaving her young son behind.
The album opens with “Only Girl Living in LA,” the longest track. It is fairly mellow for both an opening track and a Halsey album, though that is what sets this album apart from the rest of her discography.
The album picks up afterward with “Ego,” one of the lead singles of the album with clear pop-punk influences. For some reason, this track simply feels like Halsey’s earlier music and has a strange nostalgic sense to it.
“Hurt Feelings,” though, is the most nostalgic, seeing as Halsey was inspired by her “Badlands” era in 2015. While emulating her old sound, Halsey also tackles the vulnerability of generational cycles and the fear of turning into her parents.
“Dog Years” is one of the most haunting tracks on the album, proving once more that Halsey takes to the rock genre with ease. Other rock songs, like her 2019 single “Nightmare” and the twelfth track on the album “Lonely is the Muse,” further prove Halsey’s rock affinity but also raise questions about why she does not lean further into the genre.
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In that same vein, “Lonely is the Muse” was inspired by Halsey’s “OG dark rock queen” Amy Lee. It is undoubtedly one of the best songs on the album. The musical composition and vocality of the song solidify it in one of the top five if not the top three slots of an album ranking.
The album is also full of soft, loving songs, such as “I Believe in Magic,” which lavishes Halsey’s son with love and appreciation while also acknowledging her challenges and differences with her mother.
In “Panic Attack,” the fifth song on the album, Halsey may as well have been possessed by the spirit of Stevie Nicks. She embodied the sound and aura of Nicks so well that the song sounds like a long-lost Fleetwood Mac track.
Though the lack of charts or broken records has people doubting the quality of this album, it is undeniable that Halsey poured her absolute heart and soul into this album, showing a vulnerable side of herself fans have never seen before. “The Great Impersonator” showcases just how irrelevant charts are as long as the actual art is of true substance.