Halsey fought hard for “So Good,” their most recent single, to see the light of day, and they have come a long way since the release of their debut EP, Room 93, on October 27, 2014. Fans were put on high alert today when Halsey posted a Room 93-themed flyer to Instagram Stories that says “newly decorated” and “8 years later, we always have a room for you!”
ig story – iamhalsey pic.twitter.com/4YZiaMoVsd
— Halsey Updates (@HalseyInsiders) October 26, 2022
The Room 93 theories are starting to pile up in anticipation of the eight-year anniversary tomorrow:
https://twitter.com/room93emptygold/status/1585398006857486336?s=20&t=WKYSjQdQWxBAihkvqrCT6w
https://twitter.com/room93emptygold/status/1585437386892509184?s=20&t=WKYSjQdQWxBAihkvqrCT6w
i have 3 ideas: re-recording (with maybe a unreleased song as a bonus) or room 93 live like they did for hfk and badlands or she'll release the music videos for the songs that haven't gotten one so far
— ela⁷ (@elasyoonieverse) October 26, 2022
room 93 merch or room 93 live
— michelle🍄🍁 (@fangirljas_) October 26, 2022
https://twitter.com/ratherbesaiIing/status/1585420613765763072?s=20&t=WKYSjQdQWxBAihkvqrCT6w
The five-track Room 93 proved to be an appetizer for Halsey’s 2015 breakthrough album Badlands that hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Their revelatory 2017 album Hopeless Fountain Kingdom topped the chart, while 2020’s Manic and last year’s rock-fueled concept album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power each claimed the No. 2 spot. (If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power somehow did not win the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album.)
Most recently, Halsey performed at Audacy’s annual “We Can Survive” concert over the weekend, which raised over $750,000 for the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention at the Hollywood Bowl. “I love @iamhalsey for always showing up so big,” Alanis Morissette captioned an Instagram photo of them on stage together.
This comes roughly one month after Halsey opened up online about “a deep sadness inside me that no amount of worldly pleasure can touch, a loneliness, an emptiness” in an open letter that also touched on “melancholy” and “self-loathing” as themes in their art because the weight of the life they chose as a musician.
“I am approaching my 28th birthday in a week and just now exhaling and gasping for air for the first time since I took a single breath in this new life at 18,” Halsey wrote. (Their birthday was September 29.) “A breath that was meant to sustain me for a decade. I am wandering lawlessly, and I hope to find my way somewhere meaningful soon so that I can give you the guts I’ve always known to scoop heapings of into your ears. They are shrivelling lately. If you cannot be kind, at least be gentle. With love.”
It’s speculative, but a return to Room 93 — or taking time to reflect on it in any way — might be a necessary breath of fresh air for Halsey.
