For their fourth studio album, If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power, chart-conquering American singer Halsey recruited the production talents of Nine Inch Nails (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross).
On the brand-new album, just as they have in their own latter-day work, Nine Inch Nails punctuate Halsey's strong songwriting – which focuses on newfound love and their recent pregnancy – with alternately beautiful and tense synth-driven atmospherics, and aggro electric guitars that settle perfectly into the fabric of the songs they power.
If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power, which was released today (August 27), was far from just a trio effort, however. Halsey, it turns out, also recruited the likes of Dave Grohl – who turns in a relentless percussive performance on honey – and Lindsey Buckingham, who lends some gorgeous acoustic guitar work to Darling, for the LP.
Driven solely by Buckingham's circular acoustic fingerpicking – over which Halsey weaves a dreamy, captivating narrative that vividly pivots between weariness and gratitude – Darling certainly takes a few cues from Fleetwood Mac's immortal Landslide, but stands proudly on its own.
Both Halsey and Dave Grohl know how to get the masses on their feet, and the compatibility of their respective skill sets shines beautifully on honey, a propulsive, catchy rocker that basks in infatuation.
Though honey marks Grohl's first collaboration with Halsey, the Foo Fighters man had previously guested as a drummer on The Idea of You, a standout cut from Nine Inch Nails' 2016 EP, Not the Actual Events.
If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power is out today – via Capitol – physically and on all streaming services.
