The line that stands out to me the most in this album is from the first song, “Ashley.” The line says, “I’m just a fucked up girl who’s looking for my own peace of mind, don’t assign me yours,” and it perfectly demonstrates the tone of the album: a “manic” twenty-five-year-old who is broken and figuring herself out day by day.
This full length, forty-seven minute album reveals Halsey’s inner monologue of being both Ashley and Halsey at the same time and how hard that can be on her. She manages to express her angst and anger towards the way the world and the people around her have treated her in the song “I Hate Everybody.” In this song, she wants to get the point across that she is still a person who can love, but the world won’t allow her to do so. In “Still Learning,” the point she makes is that of a young woman who has done wrong but is still learning how to love. Every song on this album manages to paint a portrait of Halsey as a woman who has been through a lot in her short lifetime, but isn’t going to let that distract her from what matters: loving yourself and carrying on through the hardships of life.
A few songs on the album are seemingly about her ex, G-Eazy, whom she dated for some time in 2017 before the pair broke up in 2018. In her perfectly petty breakup song “You Should Be Sad,” Halsey looked towards the country music genre for inspiration. She mentioned in her Spotify comments that she was inspired by country because that genre has given way to plenty of badass breakup songs throughout the years. Although Halsey’s main genre is pop, this country-inspired song was executed in a way that there’s a noticeable change in sound, but it never loses Halsey’s “touch.”.
For any young adult who is struggling with the adjustments of growing up and getting through life’s rough patches and breakups, this album is for you. It’s the perfect mixture of sound that caters to multiple genres, like pop, country, and punk. It is an autobiographical masterpiece about messing up and finding yourself in life.