By Kevin Ludy ’19
After a blockbuster summer with the release of the song “Eastside” featuring Halsey and Khalid, Halsey is back with a new single “Without Me.”
The song’s debut on Oct. 4 was her first standalone track since 2017’s album “Hopeless Fountain Kingdom,” and instantly shot up to number three on the iTunes charts. The 3 minutes and 22 seconds opens up and gives insight into what Halsey has been going through, making fans eager to hear what comes next.
The “Now or Never” singer has been in a very public relationship with rapper G-Eazy since August 2017, appearing on each other’s tours, making instagram posts, and iconically making the hit song “Him & I” in December 2017. In “Him & I” Halsey sings “I am his and he is mine, In the end, it’s him and I,” which was all true until this past summer.
After announcing they’ll be taking a break with each other on Instagram, Halsey continued to tour and was able to work on new music like this single. This song addresses how she was feeling after the break up, and although they are back together now, it works as a time capsule of how she was feeling then.
The song opens up with a string progression, before the beat and lead vocals kick in. You can hear a heartbroken Halsey singing about someone thinking they could live without her, when she knew they couldn’t.
She sings, “Found you when your heart was broke, I filled your cup until it overflowed … Put you right back on your feet, Just so you can take advantage of me.” This verse shows an unhealthy relationship, which is clearly directed at G-Eazy.
The chorus of the song is extremely catchy and gets across how she was feeling by singing, “Name in the sky, Does it ever get lonely? Thinking you could live without me … You know I’m the one who put you up there.”
This song’s sound is unique in the sense that it combines her pop and alternative music style from her debut album “Badlands” and her sophomore album “Hopeless Fountain Kingdom,” which shows growth as an artist as she finds her voice. This song is only about her, not a character as a part of a concept album like what she’s made before.
In a Beats 1 Radio interview with Zane Lowe, she explained how this is the first song she wrote thinking as Ashley (her real name) and not Halsey. This personal connection was furthermore proven when on Twitter she explained how “I cried the whole time I recorded it. But now I feel proud. And empowered.”
All in all, this song absolutely thrives as an extremely catchy and raw song. You can hear the growth Halsey has went through, and her personality shines. After hearing this, it’s clear that everyone should keep an eye on what Halsey does next, as her songs are guaranteed to be a hit.
“Without Me” is available to download on services like iTunes, or stream on sites like Spotify.
