Halsey Turns a New Album Concept Into a Short Film

Halsey has transformed the central concept behind their new album into a cinematic project, directing a short film that expands the emotional world of If I Can't Have Love, Do I Have Power? Rather than functioning as a traditional promotional clip, the film offers another way to experience the record’s ideas about love, identity, agency and self-belief.

The New York premiere at SVA Theatre arrived on 27 July, with the album released the following day. For Australian viewers, the time difference placed the premiere on the morning of 28 July, giving fans across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide a chance to encounter the film and the full record as connected pieces.

Love becomes the album’s source of power

Halsey built If I Can't Have Love, Do I Have Power? around a reversal of a familiar pop narrative. Love songs have often centred on loss, longing and damaged relationships, while Halsey wanted to examine what happens when love is treated as something active and transformative. The short film develops that same theme through performance, movement and visual storytelling.

The record is Halsey’s fourth studio album and follows a path from vulnerability towards greater self-assurance. Its songs consider the ways romantic attachment can inspire devotion, conflict and personal growth. A short film naturally suits material that feels like a complete artistic universe rather than a collection of isolated tracks.

Halsey co-wrote the album with longtime collaborator Michael Uzowuru. The project also included additional production contributions from artists including Trent Reznor. That blend of pop songwriting, alternative textures and cinematic ambition helps explain why Halsey wanted the songs to exist alongside moving images.

Halsey steps behind the camera

Taking the director’s chair allowed Halsey to control how the album’s central concept would be communicated. Their experience making music videos and staging unpredictable live performances already made the transition an intuitive one, with visual experimentation playing a major role in how their work is presented.

The resulting film uses Halsey’s own presence as its primary storytelling device. Performances are placed beside intimate, dramatic and often confrontational imagery, allowing the audience to move between spectacle and close emotional detail. The approach makes the film feel connected to the album without simply illustrating each song in sequence.

That creative control is significant. Halsey is known for challenging conventional pop-star rules, from constantly changing their appearance to addressing gender, sexuality and public scrutiny in their work. Directing the film extends that impulse, giving the project a personal identity that a more conventional campaign might not have captured.

Colour, movement and emotional contrast

Colour plays a major part in the film’s visual language. Bold shifts in palette separate its different emotional spaces, while Halsey’s physical performance supplies energy and instability. The result is less polished than a television drama and more like a vivid piece of contemporary music cinema.

Songs such as “Boy”, “I Never Loved You” and “Lilith” are associated with the project’s exploration of desire, anger and independence. Their presentation within the film reinforces the idea that music videos can function as chapters in a larger story. The narrative remains open enough for viewers to project their own experiences onto it.

There is also a productive tension between the album’s intimate lyrics and the scale of its presentation. Halsey can deliver a vulnerable line with enormous force, and the film preserves that contrast. Music, choreography and direction work together to turn private feelings into a public spectacle without stripping away their sincerity.

Following the premiere across Australia

The New York screening landed early on 28 July in Australia because of the time difference between the cities. Sydney and Melbourne audiences woke to coverage of the red-carpet event, while fans elsewhere could follow the reaction through social platforms, entertainment news and fan communities before the album became available.

Australian distribution also comes with its own regulatory framework. Any film receiving a cinema or physical release in Australia would be assessed by the Classification Board under federal classification rules, with labels such as M, MA15+ or R18+ used where appropriate. Material viewed online may instead be filtered through platform age controls and online classification practices.

For many Australian listeners, the first encounter is unlikely to involve a cinema screen. Commuters in Melbourne or Sydney often move between streamed music, downloaded playlists and videos on a phone, while at home the film can run on a television alongside an album playback. That flexibility makes the project easy to approach as a combined audio-visual release.

ARIA charts, radio and the local music market

The album entered a market where global releases compete for attention on the ARIA Albums Chart alongside Australian artists, major-label releases and catalogue revivals. Chart movement can introduce a record to listeners who had not encountered Halsey’s work, while physical sales remain relevant in a country with a strong network of record shops and music retailers.

Radio provides another route into the project. APRA AMCOS licenses recorded music for Australian broadcasting, and stations operated by Triple J, commercial networks and community radio regularly shape which international songs receive sustained local attention. A striking film clip or a strong album track can help convert that initial curiosity into repeated plays.

Australian music fans also tend to move easily between streaming services, YouTube, CDs and vinyl. Collectors may seek out the album’s physical edition while casual listeners follow a playlist, but the short film gives every format a shared point of reference. It can be replayed, discussed and compared with the songs in the order they appear on the record.

A project with wider pop-cultural relevance

The connection between Halsey’s identity and the album’s themes gives the release added resonance. Halsey’s public exploration of bisexuality, gender fluidity and self-definition has made them an important voice for listeners who often see pop music reflecting their own experiences.

At the same time, the project reaches beyond niche conversation because its subject is universally recognisable. Almost everyone has experienced the push and pull between romantic confidence and uncertainty. By placing those feelings at the centre, Halsey creates work that can operate as both personal testimony and broad entertainment.

The short film also reflects an era in which albums are often released as visual ecosystems. Podcasts, social posts, livestreams, playlists and films all contribute to a larger promotional narrative. Halsey’s project stands apart by making that visual layer unmistakably personal, with the same artist responsible for the music, performance and direction.

Experience the film and album together

The short film is best understood as an extension of If I Can't Have Love, Do I Have Power?, offering another perspective on the record’s central argument. It gives the songs a dreamlike setting while preserving the tension between tenderness, frustration and strength that defines the album.

Watch If I Can't Have Love, Do I Have Power? in full, follow the album from “I Never Loved You” to “Lilith”, and experience Halsey’s new visual statement alongside the complete 2023 release.