Halsey – “Lonely Is The Muse”
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Halsey has yet to announce a new album, but she’s been trickling out new songs all summer while dealing with hostility from her own fans and Britney Spears (or someone with the password to Spears’ Twitter account, anyway). She went indie-folk on the Alex G-assisted “The End,” then delved into Y2K-era pop on “Lucky.” Now comes a third song with another entirely different aesthetic.
Last week at Budapest’s Sziget festival, Halsey played fans a preview of a dramatic new hard-rock song my colleague Tom Breihan described as “lo-fi Evanescence.” Today that song is out in the world. The studio recording of “Lonely Is The Muse” is not very lo-fi, but the Evanescence comp holds. Like the rest of Halsey’s recent material, it channels heavy emotions while addressing her struggles. “I always knew I was a martyr and that Jesus was one too/ But I was built from special pieces that I learned how to unscrew,” she sings on the chorus. “And I can always reassemble to fit perfectly for you/ Or anybody who decides that I’m of use.”
Listen below.
Also at KOKO in London last night, Halsey debuted another new song called “Ego.”