''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'' is the fourth studio album by American singer Halsey, released on August 27, 2021, by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. It was written by Halsey, Johnathan Cunningham,

Greg Kurstin Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and written and produced four songs ...

, and its producers

Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, whi ...

and

Atticus Ross Atticus Matthew Cowper Ross (born 16 January 1968) is an English musician, record producer, composer, and audio engineer. Along with Trent Reznor, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for ''The Social Network'' in 2010. In 2013, th ...

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the ban ...

. Halsey described the project as "a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. So ...

about the joys and horrors of

pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occurs by sexual intercourse, but ...

and

childbirth Childbirth, also known as labour and delivery, is the ending of pregnancy where one or more babies exits the internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section. In 2019, there were about 140.11 million births glo ...

". The cover artwork of ''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'' was inspired by artistic depictions of Mary, mother of Jesus. A theatrical film directed by American filmmaker

Colin Tilley Colin Tilley (born June 27, 1988) is an American filmmaker, music video director, and television commercial director. Tilley is the CEO and owner of Boy in the Castle Productions. He has directed more than 300 music videos. Tilley directed, pro ...

, titled after the album and featuring its music, screened in select

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graem ...

cinemas around the world on August 25 and 26, 2021, leading up to the album release. ''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'' is an

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

grunge-pop Soft grunge is a fashion trend that originated on Tumblr around the late 2000s and early 2010s, influenced by grunge fashion and other 1990s fashion styles. History The fashion style originated on the social media platform Tumblr. '' Alternative ...

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti- suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other p ...

, and rock record with heavy industrial influence, driven by clattering drums, distorted guitars, and a cinematic texture to its music. Its lyrics center on feminist themes, such as addressing

patriarchy Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males a ...

and

institutionalized Institutionalization is a concept in sociology. It may also refer to: * Committing someone to a psychiatric hospital * Having the institutional syndrome, the psychological and mental health effects of living for a long time in an institution o ...

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced ...

. Music critics reviewed the album positively, most of whom praised its ambitious concept and theatrical production. Two singles were released to promote the album: " I Am Not a Woman, I'm a God" to United States

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

on August 31, 2021, followed by "You Asked for This" to U.S.

alternative radio Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mo ...

on September 7, 2021. Commercially, ''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'' reached the top 10 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Scoring Halsey's fourth consecutive record to chart inside the top two of the US ''Billboard'' 200 and number one on the

Top Alternative Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

chart. The album was nominated for

Best Alternative Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Ho ...

at the

64th Annual Grammy Awards The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 2020, to September 30, ...

Background

American singer-songwriter Halsey released her third studio album, '' Manic'', on January 17, 2020. It included the successful single, " Without Me" (2018), the second ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number-one song of Halsey's career. In 2020, she contributed to the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

for the

superhero film A superhero film (or superhero movie) is a film that focuses on the actions of superheroes. Superheroes are individuals who possess superhuman abilities and are dedicated to protecting the public. These films typically feature action, adventu ...

Birds of Prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predato ...

'', with a track titled "Experiment on Me", which is a nu-metal song produced by Oliver Sykes and Jordan Fish from the British rock band

Bring Me the Horizon Bring Me the Horizon (often abbreviated as BMTH) are a British rock band formed in Sheffield in 2004. The group consists of lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls and keyboardist Jordan ...

, and released collaborative songs with other artists, such as

Kelsea Ballerini Kelsea Nicole Ballerini (born September 12, 1993) is an American country pop singer. She began songwriting as a child and signed with Black River Entertainment in 2014, releasing her debut studio album the following year, '' The First Time''. ...

's " The Other Girl",

Juice Wrld Jarad Anthony Higgins (December 2, 1998 – December 8, 2019), known professionally as Juice Wrld (pronounced "juice world"; stylized as Juice WRLD), was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He was a leading figure in the emo rap and S ...

's " Life's a Mess", and

Machine Gun Kelly George Kelly Barnes (July 18, 1895 – July 18, 1954), better known by his pseudonym "Machine Gun Kelly", was an American gangster from Memphis, Tennessee, active during the Prohibition era. His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thomp ...

's " Forget Me Too". Halsey was slated to embark on her third concert tour, titled Manic World Tour, in 2020, but after postponing and rescheduling many dates due to the fallout of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, the tour was announced cancelled on January 23, 2021. She also announced her first pregnancy, with American

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

Alev Aydin, after suffering several

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemical ...

s due to

endometriosis Endometriosis is a disease of the female reproductive system in which cells similar to those in the endometrium, the layer of tissue that normally covers the inside of the uterus, grow outside the uterus. Most often this is on the ovaries, ...

and undergoing a surgery in 2017. On June 28, 2021, numerous

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

s went up across major cities of the United States, announcing the fourth studio album by Halsey, titled ''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power''. The singer confirmed it herself through her

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...

accounts on the same day. Together with the announcement, she also previewed one of the tracks from the album. It was also revealed that the album was produced by American musician

and English musician

, members of American

industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubaute ...

band

. In a short teaser video, Halsey hinted at the album's punk rock sound. On July 7, 2021, Halsey unveiled the cover art and announced that ''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'' would be released on August 27, 2021. Halsey gave birth to her child, Ender Ridley Aydin, on July 14, 2021.

Concept and recording

Halsey stated ''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'' is a

focusing on the positives and negatives of pregnancy and childbirth. The album was originally built around "mortality and everlasting love and our place/permanence", but the emotional impact of her pregnancy "introduced new themes of control and

body horror Body horror or biological horror is a subgenre of horror that intentionally showcases grotesque or psychologically disturbing violations of the human body. These violations may manifest through aberrant sex, mutations, mutilation, zombification, ...

and autonomy and conceit." Halsey also emphasized that it "feels very cool" to have an album with no guest features again, following her debut studio album, ''Badlands'' (2015). She said ''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'' "had to be entirely from ervoice". The album was a long-distance project, with Reznor and Ross recording in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

while Halsey sang all of its songs at a studio in

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and ...

. Other remote contributions include drums by American musician

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, in which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of gru ...

in "Honey" and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

by American musician

Lindsey Buckingham Lindsey Adams Buckingham (born October 3, 1949) is an American musician and record producer, best known as the lead guitarist and male lead vocalist of the band Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987 and 1997 to 2018. In addition to his tenure with Fl ...

in "Darling". Speaking to

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

Apple Music 1 Apple Music 1, previously branded as Beats 1, is a 24/7 music radio station owned and operated by Apple Inc. It is accessible through iTunes or the Apple Music app on a computer, smartphone or tablet, smart speaker (such as the Apple HomePod) ...

, Halsey stated she had been wanting to work with Nine Inch Nails for years, because she "wanted really cinematic sort of, not horror specifically, but kind of just really unsettling production" on one of her projects. In an interview with Lizzy Goodman at

Capitol Studios Capitol Studios are recording studios located at the landmark Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood, California. The studios, which opened in 1956, were initially the primary recording studios for the American record label Capitol Records. While t ...

, Halsey stated that she started working on the album in June 2020, and that "Lilith" was the first song written for the record.

Music and lyrics

''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'' is an

, and rock record, with heavy industrial rock influences and an overarching cinematic mood. It also infuses

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, artists indulge in extrem ...

, punk rock, drum n' bass, hip hop, and

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

elements in its songs. Critics dubbed the album a departure from the

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectato ...

-pop sound of Halsey's previous albums. The instrumentation of ''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'' consists of rattling drums, rough and heavily distorted

guitar riffs A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompanime ...

, tinkling keyboard lines, stark

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

s, and drum machines.

Feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

is the coalescing theme throughout the album, specifically

and

Artwork

The

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper (tabloid), comic book, video game ( box art), music album ( album ...

work of ''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'' was unveiled through video shot at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 100 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, in which Halsey walked through the exhibits before finally pulling away a cover to reveal the life-size picture of the artwork. The cover artwork was photographed by Lucas Garrido. It depicts an artistic rendering of Halsey as Madonna, a category of

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most c ...

s and works of art depicting Mary, mother of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

. The singer is seen seated on a golden throne, wearing a purple dress, holding a baby with a towel, with her left

breast The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and s ...

exposed. She stated that the artwork portrays "the sentiment of erjourney over the past few months", and aims to uproot the

social stigma Social stigma is the disapproval of, or discrimination against, an individual or group based on perceived characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society. Social stigmas are commonly related to culture, gender, ra ...

around "bodies &

breastfeeding Breastfeeding, or nursing, is the process by which human breast milk is fed to a child. Breast milk may be from the breast, or may be expressed by hand or pumped and fed to the infant. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that bre ...

". The artwork was specifically inspired by the ''Virgin and Child Surrounded By Angels'' from

Jean Fouquet Jean (or Jehan) Fouquet (ca.1420–1481) was a French painter and miniaturist. A master of panel painting and manuscript illumination, and the apparent inventor of the portrait miniature, he is considered one of the most important painters from ...

's two-panel

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

oil painting called Melun Diptych, and became a subject of widespread attention and discussion on the internet. ''

The Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...

'' associated the artwork with the

topfreedom Topfreedom is a cultural and political movement seeking changes in laws to allow women to be topless in public places where men are permitted to be barechested, as a form of gender equality. Specifically, the movement seeks the repeal or overtu ...

movement on Instagram " #FreeTheNipple", and noted visual similarities to

Cersei Lannister Cersei Lannister is a fictional character in the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation ''Game of Thrones'', where she is portrayed by Bermudan-English act ...

, a ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the firs ...

'' character. However, ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''Th ...

'' criticized it for appropriation of Catholic art, expressing bafflement with "the complacency of today's

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

when it comes to the misuse of their iconography." A censored version of the album cover, where the exposed left

nipple The nipple is a raised region of tissue on the surface of the breast from which, in females, milk leaves the breast through the lactiferous ducts to feed an infant. The milk can flow through the nipple passively or it can be ejected by smooth ...

is covered by the baby's hand, is also available to music streaming platforms. The censored version of the cover was also used on CD and

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from viny ...

pressings available at

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

and

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

stores.

Promotion and release

The album was released on August 27, 2021, with minimal promotion. Its CDs,

vinyl records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...

, and

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

s were made available for

pre-order A pre-order is an order placed for an item that has not yet been released. The idea for pre-orders came because people found it hard to get popular items in stores because of their popularity. Companies then had the idea to allow customers to r ...

on July 7, 2021, on Halsey's webstore. Limited-edition red vinyl LPs, with an alternative cover, were sold exclusively at

Urban Outfitters Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) is a multinational lifestyle retail corporation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Operating in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, select Western European countries, Poland the United Arab Emirates, K ...

.Physical and digital formats for ''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'': * * * * * Halsey graced the August 2021 cover of American women's magazine '' Allure'', for which she was interviewed about her social identity, relationships, pregnancy, and family. On July 23, 2021, an online game called "LXXXXP" was launched, which is a choose-your-own-adventure-style platform that encourages users to "choose your path and discover your destiny". The "You drowned in a freezing lake" outcome results in a snippet of a song from the album, which turns out to be an instrumental from "The Lighthouse", track 12. On August 10, 2021, the titles of the album's songs were revealed through

Amazon Alexa Amazon Alexa, also known simply as Alexa, is a virtual assistant technology largely based on a Polish speech synthesiser named Ivona, bought by Amazon in 2013. It was first used in the Amazon Echo smart speaker and the Echo Dot, Echo Studio ...

, which recited the track listing upon asking it "Alexa, tell me about Halsey's new album." The next day, Halsey herself posted the track list across her social media. No singles were released from the album prior to its release. Halsey debuted " I Am Not a Woman, I'm a God" and "Darling" live at ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serve ...

'' on October 9, 2021, hosted by American media personality

Kim Kardashian Kimberly Noel Kardashian (formerly West; born October 21, 1980) is an American socialite, media personality, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the s ...

. For the performance of "Darling", she was accompanied by

playing guitar and providing backup vocals. An extended version of the album, featuring the 2019 single "

Nightmare A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety or great sadness. The dream may contain situations of d ...

" as well as a

reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repe ...

of it, and an exclusive track, titled "People Disappear Here", was released on January 3, 2022. ("People Disappear Here" features

Mike Garson Michael David Garson (born July 29, 1945) is an American pianist, who has worked with David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, St. Vincent, Duran Duran, Free Flight and The Smashing Pumpkins. Early career Garson went to Lafayette High School in Brookl ...

at the outro but was not properly credited in the footnote. ). On August 31, 2022, Halsey released a deluxe edition of the album, including three demos from the songs "1121", "Honey" and "Lilith". Halsey performed "Lilith" at The Game Awards 2022 as a joint promotion with '' Diablo IV'' whose primary antagonist shares the same name.

Film

On July 13, 2021, Halsey posted a trailer across her social media to an hour-long film, titled ''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'' as well, which preceded the album as its companion. The accompanying film is directed by American filmmaker

, who previously directed Halsey's music videos for "Without Me" and "

You Should Be Sad "You Should Be Sad" (stylized in sentence case) is a song recorded by American singer Halsey. It was released on January 10, 2020, through Capitol Records as the third single from her third studio album, '' Manic'' (2020). Halsey wrote the song ...

" (2020). Actress Sasha Lane appears in the film and is credited as a co-star on the film's promotional material. It is rated R. The film features music from the album. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

'' reported that the film incorporates

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...

, drawing visual influences from American television series ''

'' and the 2006 film ''

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child ...

'', alongside themes of motherhood and

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

in its storyline. Halsey was styled by American stylist

Law Roach Law Roach is an American fashion stylist best known for his work with Zendaya and for serving as a judge on '' Legendary''. Career Roach's styling debut was in a Deliciously Vintage boutique, when Kanye West walked into the store in 2009. ...

in the film; Halsey's own beauty line, About-Face, was used for her makeup. The opening of the trailer states, "this film is about the lifelong social labyrinth of sexuality and birth" and "the greatest horror stories never told were buried with the bodies of those who died in that labyrinth." The film was screened exclusively for one night, in select

cinema theatres. On July 29, 2021, a second trailer, titled "woman/god trailer", soundtracked with lyrics "I am not a woman, I'm a god/ I am not a martyr, I'm a problem/ I am not a legend, I'm a fraud" from the eleventh track of the album "I Am Not a Woman, I'm a God", was released on July 29, 2021. She announced the list of cities in the US the film will be screened on August 25, 2021, and the international cities on August 26, ahead of the album's release on August 27. The tickets went for sale on August 3, 2021. ''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'' was released on October 7, 2021, on

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netwo ...

. In celebration of the album's one-year anniversary, Halsey released a limited collector's edition

Blu-Ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...

of the film, which comes with the film and a CD of the album, housed in a 64-page picture book of production stills, behind-the-scenes photos, and artwork by Halsey.

Singles

"I Am Not a Woman, I'm a God" was released to US

on August 31, 2021, as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release ...

from ''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power''. The second single, "You Asked for This", was serviced to US

on September 7, 2021.

Critical reception

''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'' received positive reviews upon release. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from publications, the album has a

weighted mean The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

score of 80 based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". '' Spin'' praised ''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'' for its "masterclass in songwriting" and "seductive" production. '' NME'''s Nick Levine described the album as an intense, intricate, cinematic, "fierce and fascinating" artistic statement, while Craig Jenkins of ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North a ...

'' hailed it as "the best Halsey album" for its sound and concept. Sal Cinquemani of '' Slant'' also lauded its production, and its "straightforward" themes of "self-doubt, self-sabotage, self-empowerment". Marie Oleinik, reviewing for ''

The Line of Best Fit ''The Line of Best Fit'' is an independent online magazine based in London, concentrating on new music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interview, and media. Founded by Richard Thane in February 2007 and currently edited by P ...

'', dubbed the album a bold and ambitious work of art, with "gorgeous, intense" production that is "never overdone", and admired its simplistic and "breathtakingly tender" songs as well. Music journalist

Jon Pareles Jon Pareles (born October 25, 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', said the album is a homage to Halsey's " 1990s roots" and simultaneously a strategic turn toward

archetype The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ...

s, eschewing

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English p ...

lyrics. Luke Morton of ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication '' Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' said the album is "not a

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

record, nor should it be", rather delves into Halsey's punk affinity, solidifying her creative freedom. He added it is a record of juxtaposing moods, where a

stream of consciousness In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. The term was coined by Daniel Oliver in 1840 in ''First L ...

connects the tracks to one another. Jessie Atkinson of '' Gigwise'' felt the album displays Halsey's potential and "restrained development in sound". '' Clash'' critic Robin Murray deemed it a "powerful

song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle, of individually complete songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarel ...

", exhibiting Halsey at her most confrontational, "direct and unbowed". Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen of ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' wrote ''If'' ''I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'' is a "theatrical, grandiose listening experience" that works as a proclamation of Halsey's identity and artistic intentions, and complimented the sonic diversity of its tracks. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' Chris Willman picked the album's honest songwriting and alternative rock sound as its best aspects, emphasizing the creative chemistry between Halsey, Reznor and Ross. Helen Brown of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'' compared Halsey to

Pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

and Grimes in "bringing a darker, racketier attitude to major-label pop". Brown dubbed the album "a definite power-up", and suggested Halsey could have experimented more musically and lyrically, to "allow the songs to make a deeper mark". Some reviews were moderately critical of the album. ''

'' critic Julyssa Lopez wrote ''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'' is an adventurous, highly dramatic, and "supremely theatrical" album, that is slightly overwrought at times. Dani Blum of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' named the album the strongest project of Halsey's career, and praised its

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

production by Reznor and Ross, but felt it becomes "unsettlingly claustrophobic" due to its lack of featured acts. '' Consequence'' Mary Siroky complimented the album's production and themes, but expressed mixed opinions about its lyrics; she felt they are, at times, simply "interesting phrases more than they are interesting ideas", but elsewhere, the lyrics "unfold like poetry". John Amen, writing for ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, f ...

'', said ''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'' has some of the best songs and vocals of Halsey's career, but its "inaptly sleek" production undercuts her connection with listeners. Nevertheless, he felt the album "contains enough magic to be infectious."

Kitty Empire Kitty Empire is the pen name of a British writer and music critic, currently writing for ''The Observer''. Early life Empire says that she was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1970 and brought up in Canada, Italy and Egypt before arriving in Britain ...

of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

'' said the album's 13 tracks "don't quite live up" to the theme Halsey teased, a "''Game of Thrones''-meets-

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

-themed goth rock

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

about the

Madonna–whore complex In psychoanalytic literature, a Madonna–whore complex, also called a Madonna–mistress complex, is the inability to maintain sexual arousal within a committed, loving relationship. First identified by Sigmund Freud, under the rubric of ''psychi ...

Accolades

Industry awards

The album was nominated for

at the

Commercial performance

The album reached the top 10 of the official albums charts of various countries. In the United States, ''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'' arrived at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200, blocked from the top spot by American rapper

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

's '' Donda'' (2021). The album marked Halsey's fourth consecutive album to reach the chart's top two. It opened with 98,000

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to tradit ...

s, consisting of 26,500 streaming units and 70,500 sales. Of the 70,500 sum, physical sales comprise 52,500 copies (across CDs, vinyl LPs and cassettes), while digital album sales were 18,000. Additionally, ''If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power'' topped the

, yielding Halsey's second number-one album on the chart after ''

Badlands Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes ...

'' (2015), her debut studio album.

Track listing

Notes

* "You Asked for This", "I Am Not a Woman, I'm a God", and "People Disappear Here" are stylized in

sentence case Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing ...

. * "1121" is pronounced "eleven twenty one". "1121" refers to the day Halsey found out she was pregnant–November 21, 2020. * "Honey" is stylized in all lowercase. * "Girl Is a Gun" is stylized as "Girl is a Gun". * "Ya'aburnee" () means "may he bury me" in varieties of Arabic, particularly Syrian Arabic, Syrian and Lebanese Arabic, and is a Verb conjugation, variant of the common expression "ta'aburnee" () that means "may you bury me". A term of endearment, it signifies the speaker's hope to be outlived by a loved one they could not bear to lose. * "Nightmare" and its reprise contain an interpolation of "All the Things She Said", written by Sergio Galoyan, Trevor Horn, Martin Kierszenbaum, Valery Polienko, Valerij Polienko, and Elena Kiper, as performed by t.A.T.u. * With the release of the deluxe edition, Apple Music had a glitch that mislabels the demo versions for "1121" and "Honey" by swapping them. This was later fixed. * The demos of "1121", "Honey", & "Lilith" are subtitled "John Cunningham Demo" on some streaming platforms to signify they were produced by Cunningham before being sent to Reznor and Ross.

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal (service), Tidal. Musicians * Halsey – vocals, songwriting *

– piano (1, 2, 8, 10, 13), Programming (music), programming (1–6, 8–13), Sampler (instrument), sampler (1, 3, 4, 7, 13), synthesizer (1–5, 8–11), bass (3, 6, 9, 12, 13), guitar (3, 6, 9, 12), vocals (12) *

– programming (1–6, 8–13) * Kevin Martin (British musician), Kevin "The Bug" Martin – programming (2) * Pino Palladino – bass (4) * Karriem Riggins – drums (4) * Jack Dangers – programming (5) * Dave Sitek – guitar (6) *

– guitar (7) *

– drums (9) *

– piano (16) Technical * Trent Reznor – producer, Audio engineer, engineer * Atticus Ross – producer, engineer * Stephen Marcussen – Mastering (audio), mastering engineer * Stewart Whitmore – mastering engineer * Serban Ghenea – Audio mixing (recorded music), mixer (1, 2, 4, 6–13) * Alan Moulder – mixer (3, 5) * John Hanes – mix engineer (1, 2, 4, 6–13) * Mat Mitchell – engineer *

– recording engineer (1), vocal producer (1, 6), vocal engineer (6) * John Cunningham – recording engineer (2, 3), vocal engineer (4, 5, 7–13) * Darrell Thorp – recording engineer (9) * Julian Burg – vocal engineer (1, 6) * Brandon Buttner – vocal engineer (12) * Tom Herbert – assistant mixer (3, 5)

Charts

Release history

Footnotes

References

{{Authority control 2021 albums Halsey (singer) albums Albums produced by Atticus Ross Albums produced by Trent Reznor Capitol Records albums EMI Records albums Alternative rock albums by American artists Grunge albums Pop albums by American artists Pop punk albums by American artists Concept albums