The Great Impersonator

The album's release was intended to be the same day as the anniversary of Room 93 (2014), though it was moved up by two days. It was recorded from 2022 to 2024 when she was struggling with her lupus and T-cell disorder diagnoses, as well as birth of son Ender. Halsey stated she believed it would "be the last album [she] ever made." Various producers have been credited between the three tracks released. The album focuses on exploring Halsey's authenticity and relationships and her interpretation of their resonance with various contexts. This includes exploring how her music would have sounded in different decades, from the 1970s to the 2000s. Halsey expressed that, after her diagnoses, she felt detached from her body, as if she was "impersonating" herself, thus coming up with the concept and references for the album. == Promotion and release ==

The album's trailer was released on August 27. A global scavenger hunt preceded the reveal of the album's primary and alternate cover arts corresponding to different decades on September 5. The album was first teased alongside the release of the promotional single, "The End" on June 4, 2024. This was followed by lead single "Lucky" on July 26, second single "Lonely Is the Muse" on August 15, and third single "Ego" on September 6. The fourth single "I Never Loved You" was released October 10. The album was released on October 25. Additionally, a photo project on her social media served as a countdown leading up the album's official release. • PJ Harvey, "Dog Years" • Kate Bush, "I Never Loved You" • David Bowie, "Darwinism" • Amy Lee of Evanescence, "Lonely Is the Muse" • Dolores O'Riordan of the Cranberries, "Ego" • Stevie Nicks, "Panic Attack" • Bruce Springsteen, "Letter to God (1983)" • Linda Ronstadt, "I Believe in Magic" • Britney Spears, "Lucky" • Herself as she appears on the cover of Badlands, "Hurt Feelings" • Aaliyah, "Letter to God (1998)" • Joni Mitchell, "The End" • Fiona Apple, "Arsonist" • Tori Amos, "Life of the Spider (Draft)" • Björk, "The Great Impersonator" • Marilyn Monroe, "Only Living Girl in LA" ==Composition and themes==

Musically, The Great Impersonator has been described as a pop rock record that contains alternative rock, indie rock, folk, and pop songs. After being diagnosed with lupus and a lymphoproliferative (T-cell) disorder, the album contains reflections about topics such as Halsey's own death, her life trauma, her parents, and how her child would carry on without her. This concept is put through the lens of how Halsey's music would have sounded if she had debuted in the '70s, '80s, '90s or '00s, incorporating numerous musical references from those eras. == Critical reception ==

The Great Impersonator received positive reviews upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from publications, the album has a weighted mean score of 79 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews". ==Commercial performance==

Upon release, The Great Impersonator debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 albums chart, selling 93,000 units in its first week and becoming Halsey's fifth consecutive studio album to chart within the top two. ==Track listing==

Notes • signifies an additional producer • signifies a vocal producer • "Lucky" contains an interpolation of "Lucky" (2000), written by Max Martin, Rami Yacoub and Alexander Kronlund, as performed by Britney Spears; and an interpolation of "Angel of Mine" (1998), written by Rhett Lawrence and Travon Potts, as performed by Monica; which itself is a cover of "Angel of Mine" (1997), written by Lawrence and Potts, as performed by Eternal. ==Personnel==

Musicians • Halsey – vocals • Dylan Wiggins – drums (track 2), keyboards (6) • Alex G – guitar (tracks 2, 6) • Austin Corona – guitar (tracks 2, 6) • Greg Kurstin – bass, drums, electric guitar, percussion (track 2) • Michael Uzowuru – keyboards (track 2) • Wyatt Bernard – keyboards (track 2) Technical • Randy Merrill – mastering (tracks 2, 6, 12, 16) • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing (2, 6, 12, 16) • Caroline Whitaker – engineering (tracks 2, 16), engineering assistance (6) • Greg Kurstin – engineering (track 2) • Julian Burg – engineering (track 2) • Matt Tuggle – engineering (track 2) • Sean Matsukawa – recording (tracks 2, 6) • Konrad Snyder – recording (track 9) • Brandon Buttner – vocal engineering (2) • Kieran Beardmore – engineering assistance (tracks 2, 6, 12, 16) • Matt Wolach – engineering assistance (tracks 2, 6, 12, 16) == Charts ==