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Manic is the third studio album by American singer Halsey, released on January 17, 2020, through Capitol Records. It includes the songs "Graveyard", "Clementine", "Finally // Beautiful Stranger", "Suga's Interlude", "You Should Be Sad", and her 2018 Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Without Me". It features guest appearances by Dominic Fike, Alanis Morissette, and Suga of BTS. Halsey will promote the album on her upcoming third concert tour Manic World Tour.
Background and sound
In March 2019, Halsey announced that her third studio album would be released in 2019 and that she wanted it to be "perfect". The standalone single, "Nightmare" , released on May 17, 2019, was originally intended to be the lead single from the album. A scene in the music video for “Nightmare” showed Halsey holding a newspaper reading "MANIC" and another scene where she holds a sign reading "H3 / AI / 10--2019", with the actual day not shown, which some speculated as a hint that the album would be released in October 2019. However, it was released on January 17, 2020.
During a question-and-answer session on August 7, 2019, she stated that the album is "less dystopian fantasy world" and that it reflects her current worldview. In her Rolling Stone cover story, Halsey stated that her upcoming record is a sampling of "hip-hop, rock, country, fucking everything — because it’s so manic. It’s soooooo manic. It’s literally just, like, whatever the fuck I felt like making; there was no reason I couldn’t make it".
She revealed the album title on her social media on September 12, 2019, along with an official link to a website with the album title. The website contained a livestream of the singer painting the album cover. The album is set to have 16 tracks on the standard edition.
She revealed the tracklist on December 3, 2019 and went live on Instagram shortly after to discuss the album and answer fan questions. During the live she stated that the album is very personal in which saying, “I feel like you guys have really given me the chance this year to express myself more and be myself in a way that I don’t know if I’ve really felt like I have been able to since my first album”. She also stated that fans would get to meet a part of her that she’s been really excited to show. When asked what her favorite song is, she said that the most personal one is “More”, and not being able to pick just one, she listed some of her favorites which include, “I Hate Everybody”, “929”, “Killing Boys”, and “Dominic’s Interlude”.
The album was revealed to have three features including Dominic Fike, Alanis Morissette, and Suga of BTS. Halsey describes them as “People who really represent different parts of my psyche and different parts of my personality in so many different ways”.
Manic is a "busy album" and a "raw and honest look into Halsey’s head and heart", which shows the singer "exploring everything from Lilith Fair folk guitar to South Korean rap". Its sound has also been described as a "smattering of electro-pop, sparkly ballads, hip-hop, twang, and ‘90s alt rock". Lyrically, it deals with the singer's struggles with bipolar disorder (previously known as manic depression).
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