Halsey has opened up about how she felt “too scared” to sing about her father in music until now.
The singer-songwriter, who uses she/they pronouns, opened up about the personal topic during a new interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast, following the release of their latest album ‘The Great Impersonator’.
The record – which marked Halsey’s fifth studio album – arrived on October 25 and included a track titled ‘Hurt Feelings’, which explored her “pretty complicated” relationship with father, Chris Frangipane.
“I’ve written a song about my dad on every single album and every single time, just when we get to the time when we’re deciding the track list, I cut the songs. I’m like, ‘I can’t do it. I’m too scared, I’m too scared, I’m too scared’,” Halsey recalled on the podcast.
“This time I didn’t and I put it on the album. That was like a moment for me where I was like, ‘OK, this is something I have kept private, but now I feel ready to like get [it] out there.’ I feel like I have a responsibility.”
Later in the interview, Halsey explained what had shifted for them to include the song this time around. They said that while in the past they felt like they always had “more time” to decide when to include the song, this time around, they thought that there “might not be a next album” and therefore needed to “speak your truth”.
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In the track, Halsey recalls how there was a feeling of tension between her and her mother when Chris Frangipane returned home from work, singing: “You know my father isn’t dead, but it don’t feel like he’s still here/ It’s strange now that he’s grey and getting older by the day/ And my eyes tell me that he’s harmless despite what my heart has to say.”
They went on to recall in the interview how it felt like a “volatile” household when growing up, before adding how the dynamic changed when they found success as a musician aged 19. Halsey said it led to them “conflicting on an existential level”. “It definitely showed up in our relationship and it’s affected it since,” they added.
‘The Great Impersonator’ was shared on October 26, and given a full five stars by NME. “In many of the lyrics, there almost seems no chance for redemption. It’s through the music, much of it inspired by artists they were listening to during chemotherapy, that she finds empathy for herself,” it read. “‘Panic Attack’ compares falling in love to needing an antihistamine, but it’s hard to feel anxious over an arrangement with the warmth of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’.”
In other Halsey news, the singer recently revealed an incident in which a “powerful” music executive went through her nudes on her phone without her consent. They shared that the experience left them feeling “demoralised”, adding: “I was just frozen…I didn’t even know what to do.”
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