Halsey kicked off the new year in style on Monday (Jan. 3) by releasing a bonus edition of her turbulent 2021 If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power album with two additional tracks not featured on the original. The Grammy-nominated 14-track collection co-produced by Nine Inch Nails‘ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross now features the new songs “Nightmare Reprise” and “People Disappear Here.”
“The extended version of IICHLIWP is out now featuring the new and moody ethereal goodness that is “People Disappear Here” plus a @nineinchnails reimagined version of “Nightmare,” Halsey tweeted in announcing the revamped LP. The latter amps up the energy on the already pummeling industrial pop original, adding in layers of spooky keyboards.
“People” sneaks in on an elastic bass groove and muted, half-speed, muted drums as Halsey croons, “I hurt myself to make sure I exist/ I pinch myself to make sure that I’m real/ I hurt myself to make sure I exist/ I need someone to tell me how to feel” before slow-diving into the chorus, “‘Cause people disappear here, ahhh ah/ People disappear here, ahhh ah/ People disappear here, ahhh ah/ People disappear here.”
The original was nominated for a Grammy for best alternative music album and landed the singer her third No. 1 on the Billboard top album sales chart. If I Can’t Have Love was released on Aug. 27m 2021 and launched with 70,500 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending Sept. 2, according to MRC Data.
“We’re always looking for things that make us feel inspired and less cynical,” Reznor told Billboard in a feature about the ambitious concept album about pregnancy, fear, mortality and acceptance that came along with a companion film written and starring Halsey. “We came out the other end changed, in a good way, and revitalized. It has been invigorating and inspiring, and I can tell you we both needed it, just with what the world has been like the last couple of years.”
And while there was admittedly some “imposter syndrome” that gripped Halsey from time-to-time working with her musical heroes, the singer said her love of their earlier material made it way, way easier. “A lot of my preferences come from listening to their work, so I’m bound to like a lot of the choices they make because their work has informed my taste up until this point,” she said. “Sometimes the guys would send me a record and they’d be like, ‘Is this too crazy?’ And I’d be like, ‘Make it crazier.’”
Check out Halsey’s tweet and the songs below.
The extended version of IICHLIWP is out now featuring the new and moody ethereal goodness that is “People Disappear Here” plus a @nineinchnails reimagined version of “Nightmare” ⚔️ https://t.co/SFFxC7VgSh
— h (@halsey) January 3, 2022
