Halsey’s fifth album, The Great Impersonator, was released on October 25th. The 18-track album follows 2021’s Grammy-nominated If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power and is Halsey’s first release with Columbia Records.
The LP is assembled to incorporate influences from several different decades and genres. Counting down to the release, Halsey posted a series of impersonations of musicians on Instagram. This included Fiona Apple, Dolly Parton, Kate Bush, and David Bowie just to name a few. The Great Impersonator is a dark and moody listen as Halsey ponders upon their own death and mortality. In this album, every song is represented by a decade, starting from the 70’s and working up to the 00’s to the present day. This album is their story told through songs and eras of life.
Photos Courtesy of Halsey’s Instagram
The Great Impersonator (TGI) opens up with a 6 minute track called Only Living Girl in LA. It is about the struggle for authenticity, through deep and honest lyrics. The song dives into the themes of mortality and the exploitative ways of fame. It shows someone trying to navigate their ways through fame and what comes with it. I think this song was the perfect way to set the tone for the album. Following this track is a song called Ego. Inspired by Dolores O’riordan, it is about the inner struggles that she has kept to herself for quite some time. Dog Years uses vivid imagery throughout the song. They use a metaphor of a dog to show the emotions felt. It dives into her struggles of loss and wanting a release to have peace. I think that this song is my favorite off of TGI. It opens with an acoustic guitar that turns into an edgy masterpiece.
On The Great Impersonator, there are also three Letters to God. They are about her shifting views of sickness and dying. In the first, she’s a young child, when having a life threatening illness meant having unconditional love and not having to clean their room. In the second Letter to God (1983), they’re Halsey. She is surrounded by screaming crowds and regretting their desire to ever be sick. In the third, she’s with her son, begging God to save her from the illness. Life of the Spider (Draft) is a devastating song on the piano. It’s a metaphor of how she has felt during the course of her illness – defenseless, scared, and only wanting to be loved and only receiving hostility. She reduces herself to being a spider in a bathroom. On track 16, Lucky, Halsey reflects on having to navigate her health issues, being a mother, and heartbreak. She sings about the career that she started at a young age without realizing the things she would have to sacrifice along the way of this journey.
This album is a beautiful masterpiece and is one of Halsey’s best albums to date.It’s personal, raw, and ambitious. It’s the most honest they have ever been in her music. It is an embodiment of fearless creation despite what the audience may feel while listening. The Great Impersonator has so much soul. I have been a fan of Halsey’s since 2014. It’s been such an amazing journey watching her grow through each era and seeing how she evolves through it all.
