REVIEW #1: 81/100

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Halsey is back. There’s no better introduction than those 3 words. Following a long and unexpected break, the singer has made her return with a brand new extended play, released in the same month and 2 years later her scrapped second album, “Party Monster”, was supposed to be released. Although she currently has only one project under her belt, the songstress has proven herself to be a unique artist, with her own identity. This quality shows on “Marlboro Golds” too.

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Packing a total of 7 songs and clocking a total of 22 minutes, this short collection of songs shows a departure from Halsey, on her real name Ashely. The sound is less abrasive and more dreamy, even leaning towards a bubblegum pop direction. Opening with the lead single, “Blue Moon”, the rest of the EP talks about different subjects at core, but it all boils down to love in the end. Although the musical style is drastically different from “Children of The Moon”, the songwriting remains characteristically Halsey and the songs work as untold chapters from her life that she hasn’t shared before. One thing that stands out throughout the entire record is the images painted through lyrics in a beautiful manner, making the listener not only hear but see the scenes and stories right before their eyes, especially on tracks such as the lead single or the title track. 

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Sonically, the album is very much a synthpop / dream-pop / indie pop record, featuring heavy influences from 2000s music or even subtle touches of the 80s synthwave trend, popularized this year by Kelly Clarkson’s “Broken Heart Jukebox” and found even in Lorde’s “Scarlet”. One interesting moment on the project is found on track 4, “American Horror Story”, where the song slightly departs from the rest of the songs and shape shifts, for a brief moment, into a “Children of the Moon”-esque track. One thing that hurts the EP the most, though, is the length of the second half. On the songs “Bbygirl” and “Sabrina”, the lyrical content and the song’s message go underappreciated as they end by the time the listener even begins to understand what the songs are about. The former song is even one of the strongest lyrically and most emotional on the album, yet fails to be a highlight due to its underwhelming length. Not to say that the instrumental in itself is bad, but it does feel rushed and makes the proper songs feel like unfinished demos that somehow made the cut. Another pet peeve with the album is some of its lyrical content. While there are some very strong moments, there are also some very weak moments. Overall, the track “Sabrina”, which (to my disappointment) was not an ode to the “On My Mind” songstress, has by far the most lacking lyrics. The choruses, just describing… stuff, are underwhelming and the verses don’t say anything, really, besides one or two beautiful metaphors, like the phoenix and the matches one. This flaw is found on “American Horror Story” too, where from the first verse the song already feels like filler, written last minute, and the Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac references make the track sound like an edgy love letter to the 70s, written by somebody who “was born in the wrong generation”. 

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All this being said, the album does have more good sides than bad sides. The first three songs are probably amongst the best things Halsey has released, while the title track is an emotional rollercoaster, closing off the project nicely. “Life is Strange”, especially. From the psychedelic-like sound to the beautifully put storytelling, the song approaches the exhausted “Meaning Of Life” subject in a very unique way, putting a very personal twist on it. “I walked a mile in these shoes, I don’t believe my issues, they come and go and they always change”. A beautiful way to put a bleak subject. Another highlight on the project is “Bbygirl”, a song that extends on the subject of friendship mentioned briefly in “Life is Strange”. Although the lyrics are rather simple, they are straight to the point and even heart wrenching. “Baby girl, you know there’s nothing left to fight, you know I hope he treats you right”, sings Halsey, emphasizing how, despite relationships reaching their end eventually, the love and affection for a friend is still there, long past its breaking point. Even the closer and title track, “Marlboro Golds”, holds a lot of emotional weight. As the singer speaks about losing lovers and friends throughout the EP, the title track talks about losing herself. And trying to find herself through the vice of smoking. Clocking in at 2 minutes and 34 seconds, the song somehow manages to put you in the head of the singer as she confesses to her “sentimental” side, to her need of someone (“I know that I’m not making sense tonight, but stay on the phone - just an hour longer”) and, eventually, to the comfort she finds in her own sadness and cigarettes (“The salt of my tears and my cigarette butts, they aren’t perfect, but for now, they’re enough”).

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Essentially, this short project is not the second studio album we’ve been expecting from Halsey, but it is an insight into what she’s been up to for the past two years and where she is right now as an artist. Featuring inspired and less inspired moments, with a focus on self, the singer manages to brief the listener on some of her values and even her relationships. Although “Children of The Moon” was a solid record, “Marlboro Golds” is on the same level, maybe even better, as it shows growth and Halsey’s hunger for affirmation. Affirmation of her feelings, her thoughts, her needs and her deepest desires. One can’t help but wonder, though, whether the mourned “Party Monster” not being released was, in the end, a better decision for her, as an artist. Judging by this project, one can guess that it was.

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Highlights: Life is Strange, Flipside, Marlboro Golds

 

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REVIEW #2: 80/100

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Where to even begin with Halsey… Starting her career with the beloved Children Of The Moon, one of the biggest and most acclaimed debuts of all time, she quickly built a devoted fanbase and soared into one of pop’s biggest stars. However, she seemingly vanished after the cancellation of her follow up project, Party Monster. Now, after making a surprise re-emergence at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards, she’s made her return with her first EP titled Marlboro Golds. Preceded by the hit single Blue Moon and a feature on the debut single on newcomer Timothée Chalamet, her highly anticipated comeback project has arrived.

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We begin with the previously mentioned Blue Moon, a perfect start to the project. The track is bubbly, dreamy and insanely catchy! Seriously, that chorus is potentially the best we’ve heard all year. I’m not the biggest fan of the production on the verses, but it’s an incredibly minor thing and easy to move past once you blast into that chorus. Lyrically, the song is strong, although I wish she did a bit more with the chorus. The voice memos and spoken word segments are actually really interesting details that I adore. A great start, I have to say! The next track, Flipside, feels like Blue Moon’s little sister, containing a similar dreamy pop type sound but feeling much more intense. Lyrically, it feels very well put together (especially the two verses and the pre-choruses), but the bridge particularly feels like it could’ve been so much more! Other than that though, the track is pretty flawless. The whole thing feels like a continuation of Blue Moon but manages to distinguish itself incredibly well. I will say, it does feel like it drags on very slightly in a way that Blue Moon avoided really well, but it’s not a massive issue.

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Right, onto Life Is Strange! If i’m completely honest, this one isn’t my favourite. Production wise, it’s actually very disorienting which is probably my favourite part, since it fits really well with the overall theme. The lyrics let it down for me though. I think it just feels like it’s drifting between a few ideas without ever really joining them up? She talks about becoming distant from her friends, which is a really solid direction, before seemingly talking about fame/media and then her own issues. They’re solid ideas that could form a really great song, I just don’t think the lyrics tie them together in a way that gives them justice. Still, if this is considered a low point in this project then Halsey is doing really well so far! American Horror Story, on the other hand, is an incredibly solid track. The pre-chorus especially is stunning, although i’m not 100% sold on the “Honestly, yeah, honestly” line which feels a little clunky. But other than that, the writing here is hard to fault! It doesn’t live up to some of the highs of other tracks, but it’s certainly far from disappointing. Production wise, the song keeps things interesting as well, both within itself and the project as a whole.

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Bbygirl, as a whole, is probably the only other track here that i’m not totally in love with. There’s nothing wrong with it, it just doesn’t really have anything that sets it apart from the rest of the album. It’s a cute track, but ultimately just feels a bit lost in a sea of other incredible tracks. Especially with it’s short length and repetitive sound, it struggles to live up to some of the real highlights here. Onto Sabrina, the track that just received the music video treatment and for good reason! The song is easily the best in terms of imagery on the record, holding onto this consistent witch-esque theme throughout which is a really unique take. My only note is that the second verse feels a bit out of place, but not majorly. It’s also so damn short!! The track could’ve really excelled if it just had a little bit more time to fully flesh itself out.

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Finally, we end the EP with the title track. I want to get it out of the way and say, again, this is really short!! I get that this is the closer, but I would’ve loved to see this get a bit more space to breathe because it all feels very crammed. Which is a shame because the track is absolutely phenomenal. Production wise, absolutely stunning. The writing is some of the best i’ve seen this year, and easily the best on the album. The short track length is really the only thing that stops it from becoming an absolute masterpiece.

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Halsey has really carved out a fresh sound for herself with this album. The ethereal, dream-like pop is something that seems to suit her really well as evidenced on tracks like Blue Moon, Flipside and especially Marlboro Golds. Lyrically, she sets such a high standard for herself with a beautiful, consistent style throughout (although it makes the, albeit rare, stumble much more obvious). This feels like a new start for Halsey, especially judging by the mindset she created it in. If she can perfect some of the smaller issues, she could have yet another real masterpiece on her hands. That said, Marlboro Golds feels like the perfect, graceful send off to the year and a perfect introduction into the future of Halsey.

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REVIEW #2: 84/100

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Halsey has been quite an elusive figure since the release of her career defining album Children of the Moon. A cancelled album a couple of years back left her devoted fanbase in the dark as to what exactly was coming next. Then, out of nowhere, she reappeared. It’s been a short turn around from the commencement of this new era to the release of the Marlboro Golds EP, but the haste isn’t eliciting any complaints from the fans. The project is unique for Halsey in the way that it’s non-conceptual, quite unlike her first three albums. Described as a series of fragments or journal entries, it’s a simple project that takes rather big leaps forward for her sound. Gone are the dominant sounds of the dark, replaced by the more upbeat and bubbly sounds of the light. Halsey seems to be in a more consistent, more notable stage in her life and she seems to be bringing her career right along with her. 

 

The project opens with it’s lead single “Blue Moon”, a light and airy ode to a short lived love. Inspired by a brief fling the singer experienced after a trip overseas, the song is a big dose of puppy live, heart eyes and all. The production is bouncy and light as a feather, blending together a modern pop beat with hints of Asian instrumentation. It’s a far cry from the hard edged stuff of her past, and it’s all for the better as the song is essentially a clear mission statement moving forward. Lyrically the song also displays the growth in Halsey’s songwriting, offering a more focused look at her intended subject. The only thing that holds the song back from being untouchable is that, while it is lyrically focused, it’s not lyrically deeper than a scratch of the surface. It’s very radio ready which isn’t inherently a bad thing, but she does sacrifice some of the personality that populates the rest of the project and indeed her career as a whole moving this way. “Flipside” is cut from the same cloth as Blue Moon, as described by Halsey herself as a companion track to the lead and opener. The production makes that a credible comparison, again offering a light and airy bubblegum dream pop soundscape. Lyrically it continues the romantic subplot on the opener as well, giving us and presumably her some closure on the end of the love. It’s slightly more meditative and sad, but there is still an air of optimism. True to it’s lineage, it too does struggle with a lack of individual personality that’s notable on the rest of the project, but again it’s more than enough of a good time for that not to hold it back, just keep it from growing to something bigger. 

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“Life is Strange” reinsitates that personality however, offering one of the strongest tracks on the project. Written about the hectic life she’s led over these last two years, the song isn’t complex but it doesn’t need to be. It’s honest in a way few songs manage to be. There’s a tendency in writers to take the banal aspects of everyday life and amplify them into something more meaningful than they really are. But Halsey presents us here with things about everyday just as simply as those things are. It’s in this simplicity that we find honesty, find relatability, find a rare look at Halsey with the curtain down. It’s not personal exactly, we don’t learn anything we didn’t already know, but it’s genuine. Production wise, the song is breezy but adds some more depth than the previous two tracks. The addition of the orchestral elements makes this a very beautiful track that sticks in your memory once it concludes and one of the standouts of the project as a whole. “American Horror Story” is the sister to it’s preceding track similar to the couplet of the opening two tracks. Unfortunately, it doesn’t hold the same magic as it’s sister. Lyrically the song is fairly sturdy but it does fall into the trap that it’s sister avoided: it overcomplicates the point. There’s more than a place for metaphor and colorful writing and indeed in most cases it amplifies a song, but this project is presented as something honest and personal and the personality gets lost in the fold of admittedly pretty lines. It leaves the track feeling distant and a bit too much like great effort was made to make it artsy when the tone doesn’t call for it. The production does pick up some slack though, keeping things controlled and steady. 

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“Bbygirl” joins AHS on the weaker end of the spectrum but not for the same reasons. This track, about the slow disappearance of a friendship, is clearly personal to her and that’s not lost. The lyrics are by far the strongest aspect of the track and offer a very genuine look at the situation. But the production does let her down here. There’s nothing much wrong with the production, but there’s nothing much remarkable, nothing notable. Every song to this point had something interesting going on with the sound but here the sound is repative and only gets interesting once it’s nearly over. Coupled with the short length, it strips the song of potential staying power. But while it’s here, it can’t be called less than at least an enjoyable experience. “Sabrina” is a thankful step up, offering another more than solid addition to the tracklist. The song is about finding one’s place in life and Halsey does a brilliant job of getting us to where we need to be lyrically. She paints a vivid picture and injects some peculiar elements into her writing that make it feel uniquely her, something missing from a few selections of the EP. It’s a sweet song and one that runs over with self confidence that it’s hard to say hasn’t been earned with her work in the past. The production is mellow, but kept interesting with several layers of sound. But it’s too damn short! The song doesn’t even reach two and a half minutes which keeps it from really being something more. As is, it’s indeed one of the strongest tracks. So strong we’re left wanting more. The project reaches it’s peak here with the title track “Marlboro Golds''. The song is simple but incredibly effective because of that simplicity. The production is gorgeous to be sure, but it’s not the star here. No, the star is Halsey and her lyricism. She manages to be more personal with her listeners than she ever has before, allowing the mask to slip if just for a little while. The song is hopeful while also being mournful, sad while optimistic. It’s honest and genuine and the peak of Halsey’s powers at this point in time. It makes perfect sense why it's the closer, and even more sense why it’s the title track. 

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Marlboro Golds is a strong comeback for Halsey to be sure. It’s not perfect, but that seems to be part of the point. This is the simplest thing she’s ever done, but the simplicity carries power. In the past, Halsey has hidden behind the production and the aesthetic and has been accused more than once of being notablly distant from her music. But the same claims cannot be made here. She’s up close, right at the forefront of nearly every track. She resists the temptation to go overboard with her first artistic statement in nearly two years and turned the totally opposite direction. Nobody expected this route, nobody expected her to turn this way. But it just goes to show how smart she is that she’s pulled this reinvention when she has. The project is not without it’s blemishes. As noted it lacks some of Halsey’s trademark personality in a few places that it would’ve been necessary and the short lengths of some songs cannot really be complimented. But these blemishes and moments of imperfection help the purpose of the project become even clearer. This is where Halsey is now, but it’s not an interlude. It’s a defined thing that gives us an update on the life of this woman and we should all be thankful it is the quite special thing that it is.