By Jack Shapiro ’19
22 year old hit star Halsey released her second studio album titled “Hopeless Fountain King” on June 2.
After announcing the news on Twitter, Halsey released two singles before the release of her album. The first “Now or Never” was released in April, then the song “Eyes Open” in May.
The album in general is a pretty strong piece of art. Halsey is able to show off her wild music ambitions and truly make a connection with her fans.
Out of all 16 tracks on the album, “Now or Never” is easily her most popular and favored from the media and her fans. The song delivers a nice beat and tempo along with creative and catchy lyrics that has helped with the popularity of the song.
“I really liked the chorus; it was very catchy and had a good beat to it. At times it was difficult for me to hear what she was saying but it definitely has a good vibe to it,” Eli Corenthal ’19 said.
Along with “Now or Never,” another top track, “Strangers” featuring Lauren Jauregui has grasped the ears of her fans. Halsey is able to bring Jauregui into this upbeat fast tempo song to really help bring a new sense and style to the album.
“I think ‘Strangers’ is a really good song with a great beat to it. I think that it really helps this album’s status,” Dylan Honig ’19 said.
These are not the two ony strong songs on the album though. Tracks such as “Eyes Closed” and “Bad at Love” are great additions to the album. “Bad at Love” has good and deep lyrics leading up to the chorus. I think that if the chorus was a little more fast paced then it would really help this catchy song out. “Alone” is another song on the album where Halsey once again delivers interesting and thoughtful lyrics with great music in the background.
There are also many songs on this album that are a swing and a miss. Songs such as “Sorry” and “No Lie” are definite misses in my book. The two songs are extremely slow to be put onto this album and it brings the speed and tempo down. “Lie” featuring Quavo is an example of this occurrence. Quavo, a intense fast paced rapper is not a great fit for this song. A fast paced and intense rapper has no right to be involved with this song where it is slowed down to a point where he is not used to it.
Jake Thaw ’20 believes that, “[Some] of her songs aren’t a story, although some have a deep meaning, the others are just words for money.”
So far Halsey has received strong reviews for her new album. After winning multiple awards for her collaboration of “Closer” with The Chainsmokers, Halsey has officially released her second studio album.
