Halsey Follows Her Britney-Pop With Dark Rock Song ‘Lonely Is the Muse’

Halsey performs at Sziget Festival 2024 at Óbuda Island on August 08, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary.  - Credit: Joseph Okpako/WireImage
Halsey performs at Sziget Festival 2024 at óbuda Island on August 08, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary. - Credit: Joseph Okpako/WireImage

Halsey promised some more rock music, and she’s already delivering. On Thursday, the pop star released the dark rock single “Lonely Is the Muse,” providing a stark contrast to the 2000s pop-referencing single “Lucky.”

“I always knew I was a martyr and that Jesus was one too / But I was built from special pieces that I learned how to unscrew,” she sings in the chorus. “And I can always reassemble to fit perfectly for you / Or anybody that decides that I’m of use.”

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The track’s lyrics hear Halsey question her worth and how past lovers have treated her and forgotten her. “I’ve inspirеd platinum records, I’ve earned platinum airline status/And I mined a couple diamonds from the stories in my head,” she sings in the second verse. “But I’m reduced to just a body here in someone else’s bed.”

Last week, Halsey debuted a snippet of the song at Budapest’s Sziget Festival, telling the crowd, “For every Halsey pop song, there’s a Halsey rock song to match… I like to do both, so I feel like I shouldn’t have to choose.”

On Wednesday, the singer surprise-announced that she’d release the song the following morning. “You asked, I answered,” she captioned a post about the song.

“Lonely Is the Muse” follows the release of her Britney Spears and Monica-sampling single “Lucky,” from her upcoming album. She previewed her new era with “The End” in early June, which detailed her experience being diagnosed with Lupus SLE and a rare T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder. Halsey has yet to set an official release date for her new album, though it’s expected to arrive this year.

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