Along with being an award-winning musician, Halsey is an incredibly talented painter. That’s why it’s incredibly fitting that the cover art to her upcoming If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, written with Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, is inspired by the painting “Virgin And Child Surrounded By Angels,” from Jean Fouquet’s Melun Diptych. Halsey just unveiled her LP’s artwork, and true to the era it was inspired by, it shows her freeing the nipple.
Halsey is posed looking exceptionally regal on her If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power album cover. She sports a jeweled crown and is seated on a grand golden throne. She holds a child in one arm and side of her lilac dress is tucked down to expose her breast.
Explaining the concept in a post on Instagram, Halsey wrote:
“This album is a concept album about the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth. It was very important to me that the cover art conveyed the sentiment of my journey over the past few months. The dichotomy of the Madonna and the Whore. The idea that me as a sexual being and my body as a vessel and gift to my child are two concepts that can co-exist peacefully and powerfully. My body has belonged to the world in many different ways the past few years, and this image is my means of reclaiming my autonomy and establishing my pride and strength as a life force for my human being.
This cover image celebrates pregnant and postpartum bodies as something beautiful, to be admired. We have a long way to go with eradicating the social stigma around bodies & breastfeeding. I hope this can be a step in the right direction!”
In other Halsey news, the singer recently announced that her pronouns are she/they. She updated her social media bios to reflect the change, later explaining her reason. “for those asking RE: my updated IG bio, I am happy with either pronouns :) the inclusion of ‘they’, in addition to ‘she’, feels most authentic to me,” she wrote. “If you know me at all you know what it means to me to express this outwardly. thanks for being the best.”
See Halsey’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power cover art below and watch her unveil the artwork at the Metropolitan Museum Of Art above.
If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is out 8/27 via Capitol. Pre-order it here.
