Review: You could argue that, of any scene, the pop world has been the biggest beneficiary of the democratisation of access to music. After all, while chart irrelevancy continues to haunt, we've seen a real renaissance in and among the trash, with a resurgence of unfettered poignancy to the songs themselves, and a slew of soul searching stars in ascent. You could also argue that Halsey is the finest of this crop of new schoolers, with "Manic" her finest hour to date. A record that contains both US and UK number ones, but also hidden classics worthy of any "Best B-Sides" playlist you'd want to compile, it calls upon references from relatively unlikely places, for example trap, in its quest for universally acknowledged refinement. R&B, reroofed-future garage rock and even country are also here, making for a soundtrack as arresting vocally as it is instrumentally.
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