‘Lilith’ Is the 1st Song Halsey Wrote on ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’
On Aug. 27, Halsey released If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, her fourth studio album. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross produced the album. On Sept. 1, a YouTube video of a discussion about the album between Halsey, Reznor, and Ross was published. During the moderated conversation, Halsey shared her writing process for the album, and the three talked about how their collaboration on If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power came to be.
‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’ has 13 tracks
If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is a concept album about Halsey’s experience with pregnancy and motherhood. The release of the album was also accompanied by an IMAX film of the same name. Halsey starred in the film and played a role in the movie’s concept and production.
If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power has 13 tracks:
- “The Tradition”
- “Bells in Santa Fe”
- “Easier than Lying”
- “Lilith”
- “Girl is a Gun”
- “You asked for this”
- “Darling”
- “1121”
- “honey”
- “Whispers”
- “I am not a woman, I’m a god”
- “The Lighthouse”
- “Ya’aburnee”
The physical copy of If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power from Walmart includes a reprise of Halsey’s single “Nightmare” as a bonus track. Target’s version includes two bonus tracks, a reimagined version of the singer’s song “Gasoline” and a new song called “People Disappear Here.”
‘Lilith’ is the first song Halsey wrote for her new album
Lizzy Goodman moderated the conversation between Halsey, Reznor, and Ross at Capitol Studios. At the start of the chat, Halsey explained how she began writing If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power.
“Last summer, right around June or July I think, kind of like peak stay at home order, I started working on the record. And I think the first song that I wrote was ‘Lilith,'” Halsey said.
She continued, “And it was kind of like, it just kind of speedballed. Where I was just like spilling my guts and being like ‘I’m a piece of s**t.'”
The singer-songwriter always wanted to make an album like ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’
In January 2020, Halsey released an album called Manic. During the discussion at Capitol Studios, the singer revealed that she had been wanting to make an album like If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power for quite some time.
“When I started writing Manic, my last album, I really had the intention of writing something that was kind of darker with like more angst,” they said. “And then life got in the way, as it does, and kind of rerouted my creative process. I ended up making a record that was kind of like colorful and euphoric and self-deprecating.”
She continued, “But I still really wanted to make that other album.”
In 2020, Halsey ended up having the creative inspiration to write her dream album, resulting in If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power.
