How Halsey Faces Death on Their Ambitious New Album The Great Impersonator

The pop star released her fifth studio album on Friday, Oct. 25

Three years since their defiant statement album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, Halsey has returned with The Great Impersonator, their most ambitious — and vulnerable — effort yet.

Her latest album, which was released on Friday, Oct. 25, is an 18-track foray into the dichotomy between celebrity and human and her quest for survival as she battles chronic illness (she revealed earlier this year that she was diagnosed with Lupus SLE and a rare T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder in 2022) and the possibility of death. It’s an album that pairs Halsey’s penchant for sinister humor with candid moments of self-preservation, reflection on aging parents and finding love amid ailment.

In the lead-up to the release, Halsey, 30, impersonated the artists who inspired the tacks for the album — everyone from Stevie Nicks to Dolly Parton to Bruce Springsteen and Kate Bush. The Great Impersonator is Halsey’s most somber effort and also their most sprawling. She plays with genre (pop-punk, experimental, hard rock, classic rock, ’90s R&B) and time in a way that reminds listeners why she’s a pop innovator at the top of her game.

Below, we dive into how Halsey confronts their own mortality in the lyrics of the album.