Halsey Enters New Era in Punk, Pregnancy, and Power with Album Announcement
The singer made an announcement on Instagram about the release of her fourth album dropping in August.
Halsey has announced the release of her fourth album titled If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power to drop August 27. Just a week after she posted a 10-second sneak peak of one of the album’s songs, which sounds heavily punk-influenced, the “You Should Be Sad” singer has given us more of a clue of what the album will be like. The Instagram post reveals the Renaissance-style album cover, which features Halsey in a long gown, sitting on a throne, holding a baby with one of her breasts revealed, inspired by the Melun Diptych, a famous painting of the Madonna and the Christ Child from the 1400s. Underneath the photo is a lengthy description explaining the album and cover’s influences of childbirth and pregnancy, and all of the experiences that come with it, as she is expecting her first child with screenwriter Alev Aydin.
“This album is a concept album about the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth,” she explained in the post. “It was very important to me that the cover art conveyed the sentiment of my journey over the past few months. The dichotomy of the Madonna and the Whore. The idea that me as a sexual being and my body as a vessel and gift to my child are two concepts that can co-exist peacefully and powerfully. My body has belonged to the world in many different ways the past few years, and this image is my means of reclaiming my autonomy and establishing my pride and strength as a life force for my human being.”
The album cover and 13-minute teaser video were shot at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and features Halsey walking through several exhibits before revealing her own album cover framed within the museum.
“This cover image celebrates pregnant and postpartum bodies as something beautiful, to be admired,” she continued on Instagram. “We have a long way to go with eradicating the social stigma around bodies & breastfeeding. I hope this can be a step in the right direction!”
The album is produced by Trent Rezor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails, who have 48 award nominations and have scored music for films such as The Social Network and Soul. It will be released through Capitol Records.
