Halsey isn't quite as close to unveiling new music as she'd hoped to be. The "Closer" singer dropped hints that her record label was standing in the way of her working on a fresh album, citing the commercial performance of her latest release, *The Great Impersonator*, which hit the shelves in October 2024. "I can't craft an album right now—I'm not permitted to," the singer revealed to Zane Lowe during an Apple Music interview that aired on September 18. "That's the stark reality, because *The Great Impersonator* didn't meet their expectations."
However, Halsey (born Ashley Nicolette Frangipane) came to the defense of her project, contending that it was unrealistic to expect every piece of her work to replicate the success of her 2020 album, *Manic*. "If I'm being brutally honest, the *[Great Impersonator]* album shifted 100,000 f--king copies in its first week," she elaborated. "That's a substantial first-week tally, especially for an artist who hasn't had a chart-topper in ages. The tour is the highest-grossing of my entire career, but they're demanding *Manic*-level numbers from me... I can't consistently deliver that."
The 30-year-old—who co-parents her 4-year-old son, Ender Ridley Aydin, with her ex-partner, Alev Aydin—proceeded to describe her previous triumphs as both a blessing and a curse. She felt that her latest offerings were being held to a loftier standard "in light of the kind of success I've enjoyed in the past," like her hits rubbing shoulders with Ariana Grande's on the Billboard charts. "That's the toughest part of having been a pop star before," she confessed. "Because I'm not one anymore, yet I'm being pitted against figures and other artists that I don't consider my equals."
Many tracks on *The Great Impersonator*—a concept album that delved into various musical genres—seemed to draw inspiration from the singer's health battles, including her diagnoses with lupus and a bone marrow disorder. "Please, God, I don't want to be sick," she crooned on "Letter to God (1983)." "And I don't want to hurt, so just end it swiftly."
Fortunately, Halsey shared that she had been making strides in managing her conditions. "After a shaky start, I gradually got everything under control with the assistance of incredible doctors," she penned on Instagram in June 2024. "After two years, I'm feeling better than ever, and I'm more grateful than words can express to have music as my refuge."
