Taylor Swift praises Halsey’s “commitment to taking risks” with her new album

Taylor Swift has heaped praise on Halsey following the release of the pop star’s latest album, ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’.

Released on Friday (August 27), Halsey’s fourth studio album is co-produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor with his regular collaborator Atticus Ross.

Swift took to social media yesterday (August 29) to hail Halsey for their “artistry” and “commitment to taking risks”, while sharing a trailer for the new album.

“I’m blown away by Halsey’s artistry and commitment to taking risks,” Swift tweeted. “Giving us all a brave new era to dive into and explore together. If I can’t have love, I want power is out now- please stream and buy the album!!”

Halsey replied: “Thank you T, means so so much.”

Discussing the album and its artwork last month, Halsey said: “This album is a concept album about the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth. It was very important to me that the cover art conveyed the sentiment of my journey over the past few months. The dichotomy of the Madonna and the Whore.

“The idea that me as a sexual being and my body as a vessel and gift to my child are two concepts that can co-exist peacefully and powerfully. My body has belonged to the world in many different ways the past few years, and this image is my means of reclaiming my autonomy and establishing my pride and strength as a life force for my human being.”

They continued by explaining that the artwork “celebrates pregnant and postpartum bodies as something beautiful, to be admired”, adding: “We have a long way to go with eradicating the social stigma around bodies & breastfeeding. I hope this can be a step in the right direction!”

In a recent interview with Apple Music‘s Zane Lowe, Halsey said their new album was the “easiest” they’d ever written.

“It’s the easiest album I’ve ever written, literally,” they told Lowe. “Everyone was like, ‘Why are you writing an album, you’re pregnant?’ Because it was the easiest album I’ve ever written.

“And in true Halsey fashion, the writing of the album always manifests itself in a complete juxtaposition to how I feel in my real life. ‘Manic’, I told you, was this album that I had initially intended to be an angry, political, pissed off, fem pop punk album. And then I ended up with this eclectic rainbows and butterflies, synth like. And I was when I made that album, but it manifested itself in a different way.

“Now here comes me, totally in love, the world’s in shambles, but I’m getting arguably, the first break I’ve had in seven years. I’m finally taking care of myself, eating my vegetables and getting sleep and I’m pregnant and everything’s amazing and then out comes this. I think being pregnant in the public eye is a really difficult thing, because as a performer, so much of your identity is predicated on being sexually desirable.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Halsey discussed “wanting to work with Trent [Reznor] for years” and some of the “weird choices” he made when producing the album.

‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’ also features contributions from Dave Grohl, Lindsey Buckingham, Pino Palladino and more.

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