At the end of 2020, Halsey teased that 2021 would be “the most ridiculous year” of her career. Now, halfway into the year, it looks like one of the projects to which Halsey alluded is finally coming to light: It seems she has a new album on the way, which she made with Nine Inch Nails members Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Halsey hasn’t made an official announcement yet, but a new billboard features white text on a dark background and reads: “The fourth album by Halsey / If I Can’t Have Love I Want Power / Produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.”
Everybody moved, everybody did something.
Full stop.
HALSEY IS COMING.
with a punk / rock album!!! pic.twitter.com/JoabPCBgI0
— Josh
(@WreckMyTrain) June 28, 2021
This news has reminded fans that Halsey may have actually covertly teased this collaboration in a June 12 post on Instagram, which includes a photo of Halsey holding a baby-sized Nine Inch Nails t-shirt over her pregnant stomach.
This could mean a number of things for the CMT Award-winner’s next album. Reznor and Ross make both industrial rock with Nine Inch Nails and more cinematic music with their film scores, so either or both of those influences could find their way into Halsey’s new material.
A rock pivot wouldn’t be as drastic of a change for the pop star as it may seem to some, though. She, Yungblud, and Travis Barker collaborated on the alternative rock-leaning “11 Minutes” in 2019. She and Machine Gun Kelly also linked up on the pop-punk single “Forget Me Too” last year. Furthermore, Halsey also guested on a Bring Me The Horizon project in 2019 and reconvened with the group for another new song a couple months later.