I am not a woman, I'm a god

August 27, 2021 6:28 AM

Much is being made (sl:pf, sgum, rstone) of Halsey's new album If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power.

Their fourth album was produced by Trent and Atticus of nine inch nails, and Colin Tilley's IMAX film looks to be p superior given its first radio single I am not a woman, I'm a god.
posted by kfholy (20 comments total)

Thanks for sharing this!

This may be better suited for a MetaTalk thread but can we please not use unexplained abbreviations in posts e.g., sl:pf, sgum, rstone. It makes material less accessible for those who aren't already really familiar with the topic.
posted by ElKevbo at 8:54 AM on August 27, 2021 [16 favorites]

For anyone confused, the abbreviations are referencing the individual sources of the first three links. SL = single link, pf = Pitchfork, sgum = Stereogum, rstone = Rolling Stone.
posted by merriment at 9:32 AM on August 27, 2021 [3 favorites]

OK. What's "p superior" mean?
posted by Mothlight at 9:42 AM on August 27, 2021

'pretty superior'
posted by kfholy at 9:49 AM on August 27, 2021 [1 favorite]

"p[retty] superior," i.e. "rather good, slangily," I would assume.
posted by wreckingball at 9:49 AM on August 27, 2021 [1 favorite]

To return to the subject of the post, I really like the industrial-influenced direction that Halsey has taken with this album and the video is a stunner. Looking forward to exploring the rest of the tracks!
posted by merriment at 10:04 AM on August 27, 2021 [1 favorite]

I'm really liking this. Much like the HEALTH/NIN collab "Isn't Everyone" I feel like this is playing to better parts of both artists and feels quite organic.

The single is especially excellent. This (re-)review of Downward Spiral gets into Reznor's pop sensibilities somewhat and how the hooks he was creating helped NIN make it into the mainstream.
posted by slimepuppy at 11:59 AM on August 27, 2021

I've long been intrigued by the much poppier sound of the demo of Nine Inch Nails's first album. It's not really pop but it's much closer to pop than you might expect given how the much darker and grittier final album came out!
posted by ElKevbo at 12:22 PM on August 27, 2021 [1 favorite]

I like it, I especially enjoy the more industrial/indie rock aspects.
The new Chvrches also came out, not enjoying it as much yet.
posted by signal at 1:05 PM on August 27, 2021

Halsey's dad was my boyfriend's college roommate. It's so weird that one of our friends who is our age is a grandfather.
posted by pxe2000 at 1:22 PM on August 27, 2021 [1 favorite]

These lyrics tho! Hefty sensibility and very listenable. You go Halsey! The beauty of it is well crafted.
posted by Oyéah at 1:28 PM on August 27, 2021

Mod note: One deleted. If people would like to talk more about use of abbreviations, etc., in posts, please go ahead and make a Metatalk post about that!
posted by taz (staff) at 11:16 PM on August 27, 2021

On Twitter, critic Matthew Perpetua wrote this, which I found simultaneously glib and insightful about the Chvrches/Halsey axis (or at least it reflects my own current feelings): "An interesting thing about the new Halsey/NIN record is that a few of the songs sound very Chvrches on the top melody level, but like Chvrches when they ruled and not so much the Chvrches record that coincidentally also came out today."

I really liked Halsey's first album, then she lost me. But I'm enjoying this one so far and I think she might have me again.
posted by Mothlight at 4:26 PM on August 28, 2021

The album is now up on Bandcamp, which is one of the best ways to support artists if you prefer to buy your music digitally!
posted by skycrashesdown at 8:20 AM on August 29, 2021

Have been listening to the album on repeat all day in the car. Really impressed so far; definitely hit the ⏪ button a few times after getting to the end of "The Tradition" in particular.

I did notice though that Spotify seems to have two "releases" listed, both of which seem to be identical (13 songs, 42 min)... does anyone know if there are some subtle differences between them or something? Or just a glitch in the matrix?
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:50 PM on August 29, 2021

Oh dang, it was on Bandcamp when I posted that link, I was able to add it to my wishlist! Not sure what happened there. Her artist page's profile pic had been changed to the album cover and everything. It appears her entire profile is now, not sure what's going on there.
posted by skycrashesdown at 10:09 PM on August 29, 2021

I've been listening on loop today. It's a really good record. Standouts: Girl is a Gun, honey, You asked for this.
posted by signal at 3:33 PM on September 1, 2021

Oh, and Whispers, of course.
posted by signal at 3:36 PM on September 1, 2021

Been making my way through the album slowly. It's really interesting to me to hear how gritty tent reznor went from Head Like A Hole to writing the electronic soundtrack for Soul and producing this. There's definitely a through line - it's just not what I would have expected from him considering how much I revered The Fragile as a teenager, and thought Trent would always be edgy.

To be clear, this album is edgy in it's lyrical content, in the major melodies over a minor song in the track linked in the OP and in how experimental it is as a pop album. Definitely my new favorite find it the week thanks to this post
posted by thebotanyofsouls at 10:04 PM on September 2, 2021

One of the articles about the album says "Future EGOT winners Reznor and Ross", which sounds about right.
posted by signal at 2:22 PM on September 4, 2021