REVIEW #1: 90/100

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Halsey’s renaissance has been in full swing for close to a year now. But even with her return with Marlboro Golds in December of 2020 having been launched with a clear intent to stick around, few could’ve predicted that before that project’s one year anniversary we’d have three total releases to digest. But that’s exactly what Halsey has given us with the surprise release of her new album Nocturnal Animals. Unlike her tendency to write albums that respond to her life in the moment, this album doesn’t just focus on her whirlwind year. 

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It instead touches on it but also expands into discussions about hard to pin down as tangible concepts like emotion and feeling. With that at the wheel, the album swerves from the pop culture references and deep rooted wide reach into a direction that’s more intimate, close to the ground, and raw. 

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It’s difficult to compare Nocturnal Animals to Cosmic Horror because while they share similar DNA, they’re fundamentally two different beasts. Whereas Cosmic Horror saw Halsey perfecting the Halsey formula, Nocturnal Animals is an evolution. At this point in any artist’s career, there becomes a risk of stagnancy. If their career is going to survive they need to take the leap to try something new and every track on this album, whether it represents the album’s peak or it’s lowest point, seems intent on doing something that Halsey never has before. Experimentation is found in each track whether it be experimentation in her writing, her vocal delivery, her production, or some combination of all of those things. 

Where this experimentation is most evident is on the album’s center piece “!!JESUS CHRIST!!” which features Lorde. The song is where Atticus Ross’ influence is most felt on the album and it is the perfect proof that when Halsey is granted the correct collaborators that genuine magic can shine through. The song stands out on this project, but especially in her wider discography. It’s difficult to think back to even a year ago and imagine the same woman who delivered Marlboro Golds would be capable of doing this sort of song. And that is a consistent theme throughout the album. 

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Halsey is consistently shedding her skin as a creative on the album to find something new to wear, but if there’s any element of the album that still feels familiar it’s her writing style. Though she’s mostly removed her pop culture references and instead turns here eyes elsewhere, the hallmarks of her lyricism remain. She has a unique grasp of flow and structure in her songs and always has. She latches onto ideas and is able to flesh them out considerably while never losing the central focus, and the songs always loop back around to where they began, giving each song symmetry. On occasion, she walks a border between profound and pretentious but she manages to avoid going over the line, but when she does firmly plant herself in something profound you get left with some of the most memorable and meaningful lyrics that she’s ever presented us with. 

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The sixth verse of the song’s stellar opening track “The Devil You Know” is haunting in it’s horror tinged imagery, the disturbing opening to “Ex-Machina” flows in an almost unnervingly considered and conscious manner, the chorus of the album’s title track paints such a vivid pictures that it stays with you long after the song’s close, and the soft introspection of the album’s closer “Big in Japan” recontextualizes a lot of the anger that precedes it. 

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It isn’t perfect, no album is. While not every song is an album peak, there are two songs that stand out as being behind the pack. “Girl With the Knife” is a perfectly good song but it doesn’t reach the heights that the album’s best moments do. Conceptually it is interesting, but the song feels cluttered at times with certain moments feeling like she’s rushing to get the words out when there’s not enough time to do so. The album’s lead single “Dark. Wet. Wild” ranks as perhaps the only song on the album that feels like it is representative more of the Halsey of old than the Halsey of now. It was very clearly designed to be a single and to survive on out in the wild away from the experimentation of the album and while this is fine, it’s position in the tracklist makes the album lose some steam in it’s back section, causing the momentum gained by everything up to it being brought to a temporary halt. 

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Production wise the album is the best that Halsey has ever offered. The instrumentation feels tailored to her specifically, as if she and her producers sat down and synthesized the elements of sound that stuck to her and her alone. There aren’t many artists who would’ve been able to work in this soundscape and it be worn comfortably, but Halsey is never out of her element here. The production on the vocals is especially impressive considering this has never been an area where Halsey has been particularly notable from a production standpoint. The echos are placed perfectly and their use adds so much width and depth to the sound. The demonic vocals present on a few tracks add a flair of theatricality that makes the songs feel monumentous. Even on the weaker tracks (with perhaps the exception of “Girl With the Knife”), the production is never the element that stands out as what’s holding the album back. 

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Nocturnal Animals unquestionably features the highest highs of Halsey’s career. When it peaks, it peaks higher than anything that has come before it and those peaks are going to be what she now must strive to achieve. There are no true stumbles on the album, but the weaker cuts are more noticeably weaker than the weaker cuts of Cosmic Horror, if only because the peaks they’re up against are much higher. Even with these tracks in mind, it’s not possible to say that you will walk away from the album without feeling something electric. The album manages to maintain life from beginning to end, even in the softer moments. The project is forever awake, Halsey is forever invested, and it’s hard to not be right there with her. 

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What is perhaps the most amazing takeaway is that Halsey now has two magnum opuses to her name. Both represent different things, both stand up as pillars of different strengths that Halsey has. Having to pick which project she will put her hopes in is not an enviable task, but it’s no less impressive that she’s managed to put herself in a position where two albums released in the same year have just as much of a chance to be seen in years as the moment where Halsey ascended to a legend. 

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REVIEW #2: 90/100

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Only mere months after dropping her acclaimed smash album ‘Cosmic Horror, Halsey returns with ‘Nocturnal Animals’ – an album that has been described as a “reflection of introversion and intimacy”.

 

The album begins with ‘The Devil You Know’, with monotonous hummed-beats immediately drawing the listener in to Halsey’s world like a hypnotic metronome. Once she’s got you, Halsey has you by the throat with this album – ready to take you on a crazy journey through her mind, seldomly taking her foot off the accelerator.

 

The energy of this album is perhaps it’s biggest strength. The production is packed full of massive sounds, unique instrumentation and catchy melodies. At times it goes full on balls to the wall nuts and you feel like you’re in a washing machine full of knives, but it’s always intentional and never feels unnecessary. Chaotic and jarring works with Halsey’s style and better yet, it works with the themes of this album.

 

For an album described as a reflection of introversion and intimacy, one may be expecting something more subdued, quiet or reserved from this album. But that’s not the case – at least not the whole way through the album. It starts off much more haunting and softer, as if Halsey is slowly letting you in or more so, luring you in. By the time the album reaches closer to its midway point, Halsey becomes more and more expressive and dynamic. You might think a high-energy rock-heavy album isn’t “intimate”, but it feels like someone opening up to somebody they trust once they get close. Once you really get in to NA, Halsey opens up to us and she doesn’t hold back.

 

The second half of this album, my personal favourite, goes off. Beginning with ‘Girl With The Knife’, Halsey feels like she reaches full power and she lets loose. ‘!!JESUS CHRIST!!’, which features pop megastar Lorde, is an unrelenting explosion of pure entertainment from start to finish that feels like you’re gripping the back of a rocket as it sends itself straight into Hell. ‘Dark. Wet. Wild’ and ‘Heavy Rain’ stand out as examples of Halsey’s ability to structure songs really well and create memorable moments that will have you going back and streaming them over and over.

 

Lyrically, the album, once again, excels – for the most part. It’s let down at times by a few confusing lyrics that seem more intent on fitting the ooky-spooky dark themes as opposed to making sense and on the note of those themes, Halsey’s “edginess” can get a bit melodramatic and very ‘blood and thunder’. But again, it’s mostly great across the 12 tracks. The intimacy is to be applauded once again, with some really special lyrical moments dotted throughout the album.

 

Overall, Halsey continues to just get better and better. It feels as if she really is some sort of mythical creature that is gaining more and more power with every album she releases and, considering how good this one is, it’s exhilarating to see what’s coming next.

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REVIEW #3: 89/100

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Halsey is back. Well, she never left, but she is back! Following the release of  her highly anticipated "Cosmic Horror", a critical and commercial darling, the singer, on her real name Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, has dropped her third studio album without prior announcement and without any previously released singles. A surprise release, as one may call it. Titled "Nocturnal Animals", written entirely by Halsey and with production credits from Nine Inch Nails member, Atticus Ross, the release is described as a project that reflects introversion and intimacy, a theme that the listener will hear quite a lot of throughout the album. The structure of the album is quite simple, with the first five songs being more about Ashley's phase of introversion and the last 6 being about what she describes as "intrinsic", whatever that means.

 

"The Devil You Know" opens the record, as we are introduced into the idea of 'wretched dreams'. As an opener, the song does the job, as the melody not only brings a certain mystery to the album already, but it also creates the perfect setting and atmosphere, making the listener immerse into a dream-like soundscape, especially towards the end. "Can you find me in a bad dream" Halsey asks, after displaying her songwriting skills and painting beautiful, vivid, even scary imagery in an immaculate way.

 

"Henna" comes next as a dark, gloomy bass is heard in the first few seconds, maintaining the atmosphere created previously. Not only through the lyrics, but with the melody, almost sultry and creepy, a perfect encapsulation of the temporary nature of relationships in Halsey's life. Though the line "pro-bono, it's FOMO" ruins the mood a little through it's odd and overly direct nature, the outro pulls us back into the universe of "Nocturnal Animals", before the last whisper of "send the invite" transitions into "Ex Machina". A spoken word intro starts after a few seconds, as Halsey becomes the narrator dubbed as Machina, a manifestation of the fear of a digital future, where technology has taken over completely. Overall, the concept of this song is clear and well-executed, this being one of Halsey's best moments as a musician, excelling through the lyrics, the delivery and the production. All of them merge into a conscious fear of the future.

 

After the last notes of the previous track fade out, "Crop Circles" starts. A rising note and some guitars hit before Halsey starts singing about spirituality and her relationship with in as she is looking for meaning. The lyrical content is great, with strong and clear metaphors spread all over that make the spirituality concept shine bright over a synth-y track, with modern rock influences. Even the song's melody resembles not a divinity, but a need for purpose and for guidance from anything she can find. One of the track's biggest downsides is for sure its length, if not, the ending that feels way too abrupt for a song that packs so much. However, the length of the following song, the title track, should make up for it. As the heart and the soul of the album, the song does the job perfectly. The portraits the song paints, of a person that thrives more at night, is put extremely well, especially in the chorus and the collection of things. With a stream of consciousness-like structure, the song expands upon the universe of Halsey's mind and dreams. Through the Japanese outro, the singer perfectly closes this chapter of the album and somehow manages to open another at the same time, as we move onto "(dream sequence)", the moment when the individuality of the singer is replaced by the idea of "alone together", a sort of isolated space that holds more than one person.

 

"Girl With The Knife" opens this next section of the record, serving like the second opener in the context. And, with the rhythmic guitar introduction, there are already a difference from the first and second side of the record. Though the lyrical content is definitely different, the promise of the collective singularity concept doesn't seem to materialize that well yet. One can see that the song focuses on how Halsey's actions have impacted the ones around her, the song still seems conceptually to fit more with the first half. That being said, the lyrics and production are very well crafted, though it has to be noted that the overall song is more audience friendly and less experimental. "!!JESUS CHRIST!!" comes up next and the idea of radio friendliness is out the window. On what is one of the best songs on the record, Halsey is singing, alongside Lorde, about the anger one feels after a toxic person was cut off from their life. The imagery in the lyrics is very brutal and gore-y, but that only adds up to the song. Ending with the violent screaming in the outro was for sure a choice that made this song an extremely interesting addition to Halsey's discography. In contrast, "Pinch" comes on right after, a breath of fresh air sonically, as we experience love through Halsey's eyes. Riddled with metaphors and lovey-dovey moments, the song embraces the second half's theme better, with well written lyrics and better put emotions. That being said, compared with the other tracks, it pales in concept, though it works as a palette cleanser. 

 

The album's lead, "Dark. Wet. Wild." comes on next. It is quite obvious why the song was picked as the lead single. With a tongue-in-cheek and satirical approach for the idea of finding your community, the song has quite a relatable tone to it, thus making it more marketable than the others tracks. It's also a nice culmination of the "alone together" leitmotif, embracing it fully. Though the production is great, a nice tribute to Nine Inch Nails and their punk electronic sound, the overall track doesn't hit as well as the others, serving a good purpose on the album as a radio single. However, its inclusion is not odd and one can see how it fits in the context of the record. "Heavy Rain" brings a different side to the idea of being surrounded by people, dishing on the hardship of finding ways to comfort the people around when they need it. The lyrical content feels almost accusatory to Halsey, as she reflects upon the guilt she feels (or she is supposed to feel) for not being amble to fully empathize with her friends and their struggles, put very well through the idea of winter. Though many dislike the dark days and the cold it brings, Halsey finds herself expecting it. This song is easily one of the best on the record, its vulnerability paired with the raw honesty making it yet another unique addition to Halsey's own discography. Its length, though, drags the appreciation for it down, as one can't help but feel like there is a part of the track missing. However, that only adds up to the replay value. As we reach the final song, "Big In Japan", there is a gentleness that is expressed entirely through this song. Taking a modern approach to a Japanese proverb about having three faces, improving it by mentioning that they exist in different times of our lives. There is a certain maturity and beauty in this song, with the lyrics bringing a certain hope and light to an otherwise quite dark and mysterious record. The entire song gives a warmth feeling, almost like a breath of relief coming from Halsey, who wants to keep this state of dreaming alive. Not only that, but this song proves that the singer knows how to end her records in the most meaningful ways that encapsulate the records and give closure or, in the case of this song, leaves the door of the "Nocturnal Animals" universe a bit open, almost like she wishes for this story to never end.

 

All in all, the third studio album by Halsey is one strong body of work. The themes she touches upon are unique, vulnerable and very much well executed. No song on the album is a slip and Ashley's songwriting skills are highlighted with the help of production that stands out in the current musical climate. Though there are some slips in the keeping up with the concept of the second half, it still holds up together and works perfectly as one breathing and living thing, while songs from the first half work great individually, though they don't feel too separate from each other. "Nocturnal Animals" is a triumphant follow-up to "Cosmic Horror", where a world of dreams is coming to life with the help of rock and electronic elements. Thus, Halsey elevated her status, from aspiring critical darling to future trendsetter.

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