Hopeless Fountain Kingdom
| Hopeless Fountain Kingdom | ||||
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| Studio album by Halsey | ||||
| Released | June 2, 2017 | |||
| Recorded | 2016–17 | |||
| Genre | Synth-pop | |||
| Length | 38:32 | |||
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| Singles from Hopeless Fountain Kingdom | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 66/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    |
| Consequence of Sound | B |
| NME | |
| The Observer | |
| Pitchfork | 6.5/10 |
| Rolling Stone | |
| PopMatters |   |
Hopeless Fountain Kingdom (stylized as hopeless fountain kingdom) is the second studio album by American singer Halsey, released on June 2, 2017, through Astralwerks.
Halsey released her debut studio album, Badlands, in August 2015. It charted at number 2 on the US Billboard 200, and went on to sell 500,000 copies. According to Halsey in an interview with Rolling Stone on March 2017, Hopeless Fountain Kingdom is a concept album, like her previous album Badlands. The story centers on a pair of lovers in a limbo-like realm that connects to the futuristic setting of the previous album: "I was a big comic-book kid... a big Marvel nerd", she stated. Speaking about her debut album, she contends that it "wasn't supposed to be a radio album." Though she still sees herself as an "alternative artist" ("'alternative' used to mean alternative rock", she says, "but I think in 2017 the word 'alternative' means alternative pop"), she expected Hopeless Fountain Kingdom to generate some airplay. "I am more than capable of writing radio music", she says, "and hopefully I'll put my money where my mouth is on this album." On the album, Halsey worked with producers including Greg Kurstin, Benny Blanco and Ricky Reed.
The album is inspired by William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. The introduction of the opening track "The Prologue" features the play's prologue spoken by the singer. The music video for "Now or Never" was heavily influenced by Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film adaptation of Romeo + Juliet. The video was filled with neon lights and Lurhman’s signature visual aesthetic. The story follows a gender-swapped version of the “star-crossed lovers” as viewed by Halsey.
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