Back in 2015, Halsey made her bid for an alternative approach to pop stardom with her debut album Badlands. She was already Tumblr royalty, so similarly conquering pop didn’t seem too far out of reach. The young artist set herself apart with an elaborately planned narrative that accompanied the record and pulled fans into another world. Each detail was immaculate and intentional, which is why listeners have wondered for an entire decade about whatever happened at the end of the “New Americana” music video, when Halsey awakes in the desert with the haunting chords of “Drive” blaring over the scene.
As the musician celebrates the 10th anniversary of Badlands, they’re finally ready to catch everyone up to speed. “Today we kick it into gear, are you ready?” Halsey asked on X earlier today, hours before unveiling the Badlands anniversary trailer, which previews a double feature centered around album deep cuts (and live show favorites) “Drive” and “Gasoline.” A date hasn’t been set for the release, but Halsey writes that the feature is “coming soon.”
In the trailer, we see the return of Tyler Posey, who appeared in the music video for Badlands single “Colors.” With blue-haired Halsey back in action, the preview promises the return of a familiar chaos. “City Under Heavy Surveillance,” reads a note pinned to a crowded bulletin board where a picture of the singer is also pinned. Over on Tumblr, their social media home base and occasional safe space, Halsey revealed that this isn’t just an old video being unearthed. It features newly-recorded footage, though she tried to fool her followers a few weeks ago.
“Going through the badlands archive for anniversary celebrations and found these New Americana stills from some set ups that didn’t make the final vid. I love the whiplash of moods lol little baby,” Halsey wrote beneath two grainy photos in which their hair is that familiar color once again. When they shared the link on X today, they wrote: “Me when I lie.”
Over the past few weeks, Halsey has been teasing celebrations around the album anniversary. It started with an expansive vinyl release, but that alone wouldn’t do the album justice. The multi-platinum-certified record features the platinum and multi-platinum songs “New Americana,” “Hold Me Down” “Control,” “Castle,” “Hurricane,” “Ghost,” and “Gasoline,” as well as gold-certified cuts “Roman Holiday,” “Haunting,” “Drive,” “Young God,” and “Coming Down.”
“You think the most exciting thing I had for you was VINYLS?” Halsey posted on X. But patience is a virtue. “I don’t think badlands could happen in this era bc people are so impatient and used to instant gratification, they wouldn’t have the patience for a paced-out interactive roll out 🤷🏻♀️ imo,” they wrote. Even they’re getting antsy. “It’s definitely sorta backloaded lol I’m so impatient but there’s a lot on the docket,” Halsey responded to a fan who asked what else is in store for the month.
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