The most out-of-body of these is a tender, acoustic, mid-point country-folk ballad, вЂњDarling,вЂќ that is so finger-picky in its leanings, Reznor and Ross solicited the help of the most finger-pickiest of them all, Fleetwood MacвЂ™s Lindsey Buckingham, to provide the sweet accompaniment.

(Although, we do want to hear that record.) There are plenty of moments strewn across it that are much prettier than doomier. Not to make the album sound completely like some weird amalgam of Taylor-Swift-meets-Ciive-Barker. Which is: What is pregnancy about, if not body horror? But also, thereвЂ™s a corollary to this answer, one that does more directly connect the music weвЂ™re hearing to what they were going through with a bun in the oven. So thereвЂ™s a lot of pre-partum depression here, possibly not to be continued on a more nurturing sequel. 1: Wait a second, didnвЂ™t Halsey just have a baby? How is it that theyвЂ™ve come up with the least maternal-sounding album of 2021? And didnвЂ™t they say they were in love with the babyвЂ™s father, too? What memo did she not get about turning all that into blissed-out earth-mama song? ThereвЂ™s an answer for that, and weirdly, it kind of makes sense! Halsey told Apple Music in an interesting new interview that, in part, they made this record to get a lot of lingering feelings off their chest that might seem weirder later on, when Halsey Jr. This seems like an album that should come with its own set of FAQs, though. There are a lot of turn-on-a-dime moments on this album where you donвЂ™t quite know whether to give her a hug or flee in terror, and the fact that neither impulse becomes the dominant one is part of why вЂњIf I CanвЂ™t Have LoveвЂќ is so powerful. вЂњвЂCause I never wanted saving / I just wanted to be found,вЂќ she adds, in an addendum that takes the tune out of the realm of horror and back into a kind of self-revelation that feels vulnerable, for all the teeth talk. вЂњHeвЂ™s laying in the water begging god to let him drown / So I showed him all my teeth and then I laughed out loud,вЂќ she sings, over the albumвЂ™s heaviest, grunge-iest guitar track. By the time of the penultimate вЂњThe Lighthouse,вЂќ sheвЂ™s having her way with a sailor who may be the devil himself, and coming out on top. (The parties actually recorded apart during the pandemic, but still, let us keep our charming mental pictures.) One of the songs is titled вЂњI Am Not a Woman, IвЂ™m a God,вЂќ in case you think they mean a nice god, consider that another of the song titles is вЂњLilith,вЂќ named after the demonic figure of Judaic lore.

ItвЂ™s easy to imagine the producers cowering in the corner as a then-pregnant Halsey got her rage on in some of these songs. Only, with due respect to the artistвЂ™s Renaissance-portrait-ready cover likeness, itвЂ™s really they, Halsey, and not they, Reznor and Ross, who is the beast here. ItвЂ™s another case of вЂњbeauty and the beastвЂќ making for an effective teaming. TheyвЂ™re operating on that good old show-biz maxim: Leave вЂ™em wanting more brooding. The economy with which they proceed through this showcase never lets the album gets bogged down in its hit-and-run high drama. (Or themself - the artist recently expressed preference for a mixture of both pronouns now.) Somehow, they manage it, in highly captivating songs that are a little bit pop-punk, a little big pop-prog, and all - dare we say it? - pow-pably good.

Of the 13 songs on the standard edition of the new album, only one surpasses four minutes, and five are under three - not a lot of time, really, to build up the kind of sinister simmer Nine inch Nails are known for and also get in some flagrantly sing-able hooks and stream-of-consciousness rage rivers from Halsey herself.

Better to steel for a letdown than hope that an album title like вЂњIf I CanвЂ™t Have Love, I Want PowerвЂќ promised provocative fun.Д«ut here it is, and itвЂ™s just about everything youвЂ™d hope that a collab between Halsey and Reznor/Ross would beвЂ¦ except long enough. ReznorвЂ™s a guy who hasnвЂ™t much lent himself out for studio-album work-for-hire since the days when Marilyn Manson was barely a gleam in a defense attorneyвЂ™s eye. So it was when Halsey just recently revealed one of musicвЂ™s best kept secrets, that an entire album was in the bag with the production team of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Sometimes you learn about a collaboration in the making that sounds so promising, your first instinct is to completely dial down expectations, lest there be too much disappointment when the uncertain chemistry goes pfff instead of pow.

Paramore self titled album trent reznor