Halsey exacts perfect revenge on Pitchfork after poor album review

“Ego” hitmaker Halsey has hit back at music publication Pitchfork in the best way after one of its reviewers gave her new album The Great Impersonator a bad review.

On Friday (25 October), the 30-year–old American singer released the confessional concept album, with each of its 18 songs inspired by a musical legend.

Leading up to the album’s release, Halsey had shared an image a day on Instagram of themself impersonating a music star who inspired the record, with muses including Cher, Britney Spears, Dolly Parton, David Bowie, Björk, and Fiona Apple.

Yet, in one of several scathing remarks about the record, Pitchfork reviewer Shaad D’Souza suggested that Halsey had never heard the artists she was supposedly inspired by.

“Knowing that the title track is a Björk tribute or that ‘Arsonist’ is in the style of Fiona Apple makes you wonder if they’ve ever heard either artist, a doubt that arises again and again,” the review reads.

At the bottom of it all, it’s still hard to focus your eyes on who Halsey is https://t.co/ZydP94PlqY

— Pitchfork (@pitchfork) October 29, 2024

It continues by suggesting that Halsey has “never presented a coherent vision of who they are or what they want to say in even the broadest sense,” and that the new album is simply “designed to position Halsey as a tortured, singular artist”.

Pitchfork stamped The Great Impersonator with a measly 4.8 out of ten – the worst mark the publication has ever given one of Halsey’s records.

However, Halsey had the last laugh, cutting the review’s sparse compliments and using them as an advertisement.

“Thank you @pitchfork for your kind words. I think it’s so beautiful that everyone interprets things differently,” they wrote on X/Twitter, alongside a graphic featuring positive quotes pulled from the review.

“Halsey’s latest act wows Shaad,” the poster’s title says.

thank you @pitchfork for your kind words.
I think it’s so beautiful that everyone interprets things differently 🤍⭐️ pic.twitter.com/AwAZCBNEyC

— h (@halsey) October 30, 2024

“Real emotional grounding. They’re a great curator, a brilliant singles artist – and a hugely compelling performer,” reads one quote.

“Sharp and witty, and it’s also one of the most head-spinning passages in pop this year,” goes another.

In addition to exacting their own perfect revenge on the publication, Halsey has been backed up by their legion of fans who have praised the album.

The Great Impersonator has received largely positive reviews by other publications, too, with NME awarding it five out of five stars, and Clash giving it a score of nine out of 10.

In 2020, Halsey made headlines for tweeting “can the basement they run P*tchfork out of just collapse already” after the publication gave their third album Manic an average score of 6.5 out of 10.

The tweet caused controversy due to the fact that Pitchfork is run in the Condé Nast office in the One World Trade centre, with some social media users noting that she had inadvertently “called for the collapse of One World Trade”.

In response, Halsey deleted the post and apologised, writing on X/Twitter: “ABSOLUTELY deleted it upon realising this. Was just trying to make a joke! Intended zero harm.”

The Great Impersonator is out now.

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