During the latter half of 2016, you could not avoid Halsey's feature on "Closer" if you wanted to (the song literally spent three months at the top of the Billboard charts), and, with momentum on her side and a full two years since the release of her debut album, Badlands, the 22-year-old pop prodigy has finally unleashed her follow-up LP, hopeless fountain kingdom. To get an idea of the kind of person we're dealing with here, the Jersey singer's stage moniker, Halsey, is an anagram of her government name, Ashley, as well as the name of a subway station in Brooklyn where she spent much of her youth. This fact isn't necessarily mind-blowing by any stretch, but it underlines what you get from her music. She is the rare pop star who cares not only about the smallest details of individual songs, but about the tedious process of making a meaningful concept album as well. On this particular one, it feels like her level of care has been matched by the quality music she's delivered, and, of course, that's made for a terrific album. One of our favorites from hopeless fountain kingdom is below, but we recommend you check out the deluxe album in full on Spotify and select your own favorites.
Halsey