Every Friday we will be honoring the stunning Female musicians who have caught our eyes, ears, and hearts (we know that sounded corny, but roll with it). This week we’re featuring Halsey!
I first discovered Halsey at WTSR, the radio station I’m the manager of (open your mind and bang your f**king head!). The second I read indie pop, Brooklyn, and feminist, I was sold. I spun what the reviewer said was the best song on the record, and I was hooked.
Who is she
Ashley Frangipane was born in New Jersey, though she identifies more with New York. Her stage name is an anagram of her first name and a street that she frequented as a teenager in Brooklyn. Halsey is biracial, which doesn’t effect her music, but it lends to her gorgeous racially ambiguous features. She was raised around music, playing the violin, viola, cello, and eventually, the acoustic guitar. She went to school for songwriting and creative writing. At 18, she turned to music to pay her rent.
What has she done/What is she going to do
She started off posting covers on her personal YouTube channel, which has been deleted (although, thanks to the power of the internet some of those were saved). This eventually led to her recording her original songs and posting “Ghost” on SoundCloud, which got her the attention of Astralwerks who released her debut EP Room 93. It included a remastered version of “Ghost” and features the lead single of her up coming album “Hurricane.”
Why you should listen to her
It seems that dark indie pop has become such a staple in today’s music that we’ve come to the point that the style is being mimicked by lesser pop artists. Halsey just takes the genre and pushes it further. She forgets the upbeat pop beats that seems to be drawing people and goes straight for the moody beats
Where should you start
Since we’ve only seen 5 songs, it’s not difficult to say that Halsey is pretty consistent in quality when it comes to her music. However, I think the clear place to start in her repertoire is the chilling and heartbreaking “Ghost,” which comes off as a moody indie pop entry, but cuts in heartbreaking with lyrics like:
I like the sad eyes, bad guys
Mouth full of white lies
Kiss me in the corridor,
But quick to tell me goodbye.
and has a catchy hook and chorus that will stick with you like an earworm of a more traditional pop song. If you’re looking for a song that highlights Halsey’s power as a vocalist, then “Trouble (stripped)” will outline her raspy vocals. She holds the power in her words rather than the strength in her voice. “Trouble” outlines the emotion of the song – “Let’s cause a little trouble/Oh, you make me feel so weak/I bet you kiss your knuckles/Right before they touch my cheek” – with a faint, but significant voice that will quickly seep into your skin and stay with you. That’s why she deserves to be this week’s Femme Fatale.
Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.