If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power
| Halsey
If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power
If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Halsey, released on August 27, 2021, by Capitol Records. It was written by Halsey, Johnathan Cunningham, Greg Kurstin, and its producers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails. Halsey described the project as "a concept album about the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth". -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Metro Weekly
Halsey returns with a raw new sound on a strong, defiant fourth album that explores themes of motherhood.
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Pitchfork
Produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Halsey’s spectral fourth album confronts the thrill and terror of getting what you want. It’s their strongest work to date.
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Rolling Stone
The adventurous pop star’s fourth album is a fascinating, if at times overwrought, collaboration with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
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Kerrang!
In a world where pop and ‘mainstream music’ is becoming more and more beholden to releasing an endless string of singles, Halsey’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is an album best served whole. Sure, it’s packing some infectious, radio-ready choruses, but there is so much more to unpack, with each listen peeling back layers of heartache but also dexterity and adventure, and much-needed sense of danger that their peers are lacking. As Halsey moves into a new chapter in their own life, so too does their music. And we are here for it.
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NME
an endlessly compelling artistic statement.
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Vulture
Halsey's Rock Album Is Perfect Alchemy.
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mxdwn Music
The amount of effort, thought and creativity placed into If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power deserves recognition and commendation to Halsey as an artist, as well as the Reznor and Ross, the producers, who guided her along. Her fans are able to see a brand new version of their favorite singer while taking a peek into her mind, heart and soul.
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Wall of Sound
There are some songs on here that I love, and others that don’t do much for me, but on whole, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is one of the most striking releases of 2021.
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The Rice Thresher
The album, strung together through a framework of dissonant harmonies , presents a more mature sound from Halsey’s previous work and highlights a multitude of controversial topics.
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The Hawks' Herald
With autumn on the way, this album is a haunting experience of dissonance musically and lyrically, sounding at times like that of a nightmare. In the end, it seems they choose love.
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The Guardian
a muscular pop statement.
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Dig Mag
Overall, the album is smart and the collaboration with Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor heightens the production of the artist’s creative vision, giving the album a certain grit or edge to Halsey’s lyrics. “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power” is the floor plan of Halsey entering the next phase in their life and it’s both exciting, inspirational, and further paves the artist’s longevity in this era of music worth listening to.
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Our Culture
On this album, Halsey’s commitment to both craft and vulnerability is less devastating than it is purely exhilarating. It’s proof that when they take enough liberties with their established framework, the possibilities seem endless.
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Sputnik Music
If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is a tour-de-force in the face of an ever-changing pop scene. More importantly, and closer to what I should be talking about, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is on an upward trajectory in terms of Halsey releasing quality music. By and by, Halsey may not have love, but her latest record is power.
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Black Boy Bulletin
This is clearly an album that will reach its final form in a live setting, but it’s still an admirable effort from an artist that continues to evolve and challenge our perception of 2010s pop superstardom.
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The Line of Best Fit
If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power is truly a gift that keeps on giving. With the exuberant "Honey" possibly referring to Halsey's bisexuality and featuring Dave Grohl on drums, the heartbreaking and vulnerable "Whispers", and the album's most cathartic point "The Lighthouse" - this is their absolute best work to date.
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Pepperdine University Graphic
The album’s diversity of genres and instruments highlights how versatile Halsey is as an artist. The lyrical content expresses her personal experiences as a new mom.
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Stereoboard
‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’ is one of the most honest releases that’s come around in a long time. Vulnerable, raw, emotive, stubborn, sincere and fierce, this is the a defining moment in Halsey’s career. With an attitude to break boundaries like theirs, we could be seeing the emergence of one of the most ground-breaking artists of our generation if they continue in this direction.
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The Michigan Daily
From the emotion of the music to the evocative imagery of her lyrics and the visuals of the cover, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is another chapter in Halsey’s ever-evolving, and ever-strong, presence in the music industry.
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Her Campus
The creativity of the artists paired with the honest and impassioned lyrics have given fans a great record. If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is by far my favorite of Halsey’s career and unless something Earth shattering comes out in the next 2 months, my favorite album of the year.
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Music Matters Media
Halsey’s strength as both an artist and a person comes through clearly even in her most vulnerable and unguarded moments. Ultimately, the title If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power has to be interpreted as ironic, since Halsey has already earned plenty of both, and with this album, she’s bound to end up with even more.
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Flood Magazine
a flawless, transcendent alt-pop gem swirling with gothic atmosphere that lights up every sonic pleasure center in my brain all at once. I can’t wait to listen to it a million more times.
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The Gonzaga Bulletin
If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power is Perfection.
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The Musical Hype
Alternative pop standout Halsey delivers the best LP of her career with her fourth album, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power.
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Ratings Game Music
I think this is the first Halsey album that I can listen to pretty much anytime. If you haven’t listened yet, I definitely recommend that you give it a shot.
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Slug Magazine
Soft songs or hardcore ones, each packs an emotional, thought-provoking punch that only Halsey can deliver. It’s a sure sign that Halsey only continues to grow as a person and as an artist.
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The Music
'If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power' is a brave and ambitious record.
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Reviews By Mars
If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is a true introduction to Halsey as a catalog artist creating an album not anchored by attempts at chart success. Their voice sounds so good across the entirety of the record, and the rock genre fits Halsey’s vocals like a glove. Both complex and intensely ambitious, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is a much-welcomed venture into territory destined for greatness.
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The Forty-Five
Halsey has created a stunning portrait of a pivotal moment in their life that’s thought-provoking, anthemic and totally electric.
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Feather Pen
Honestly, I can’t say IICHLIWP is my favourite Halsey album but I can say this is one of Halsey’s best works. You might say how’s that work? Some of her other works are more of my taste but I can still objectively appreciate the deepness in this album the incredible work done with music, lyrics, all the metaphors and double meanings – she is an absolute genius.
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OTDE Music
Overall while I did enjoy the album a fair bit, I felt although lyrically it was cohesive, musically I found it to be a bit all over the place. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with experimenting with genre’s at all, I love it. But it’s almost as if Halsey wanted to make this a full rock concept album, but had hesitation, leaving little safety nets of sounds from her past work just incase her new experiment didn’t hit well with her fans. I personally think I wold have enjoyed it more if she, just like the character in her story just said fuck it.
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The Independent
A grunge-pop whoosh of tormented sonic melodrama.
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Daily Bruin
Halsey tackles themes of maternity, identity with stunning rock sound in 4th album.
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Clash Magazine
A world of distortion and contradiction, blood and venom, ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’ is a singular statement, one of extreme power.
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DIY Magazine
It’s intimate and messy at times but fiercely deliberate.
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The Sydney Morning Herald
A theatrical, grandiose listening experience: Halsey’s new album is an evolution.
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Gigwise
A potent, restrained development in sound.
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Uproxx
Halsey’s Defiant ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’ Expands The Limits Of Pop’s Purview.
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Insider
It's an ambitious concept album with some of her richest, most vivid songwriting to date.
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AllMusic
Halsey takes a huge leap forward with this course-changing opus, a revelation that finally presents their most authentic representation of self.
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Ambient Light
If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is a modern masterpiece, taking the listener on a sonic and narrative tour-de-force that simply must be experienced. In my opinion this is hands-down one of the musical highlights of the year.
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The Arts Desk
The boldest sonic statement yet from an artist who has never shied away from airing their grievances in public.
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Sanity Blog
Sonically the album drifts between cinematically scored pop and heavier rock-punk influences that have always been layered in her music in the past, but have been really highlighted with her Nine Inch Nails collaborators. ‘Easier Than Lying’, ‘Honey’ and ‘You Asked For This’ are the clear standouts of this sonical exploration, but the album’s big pop moment is ‘I Am Not A Woman, I’m A God’ which is a bold pulsating synth anthem.
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Slant Magazine
Halsey’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power thrillingly homes in on notions of self and identity.
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Earbuddy
With If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, Halsey definitely displays power. But with great power comes great responsibility. At least for the follow-up album. Do NIN return or does Halsey employ Cannibal Corpse?
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