Representing a shiny pinprick of sunshine on the finish of an extended, darkish tunnel, “Drive” was Halsey‘s last single in assist of her groundbreaking 2015 debut, Badlands: an idea album a couple of fictional post-apocalyptic society surrounded by desert wasteland.
Created alongside producers Tim Anderson and Lido, who additionally supplied backup vocals on “Drive,” the dramatic dark-pop reduce confirmed up comparatively early on the Badlands tracklist however signaled decision and optimism with lyrics outlining a traditional automobile with the highest down; Los Angeles getting into its golden hour; two individuals meandering down the freeway because the solar units behind them and an unsure but doubtlessly thrilling future lays forward. “And California never felt like home to me… Until I had you on the open road and now we’re singing,” Halsey murmured over a reverb-filled drum crash.
“The idea of Badlands was creating a space with sound, which is a really difficult thing to do,” Halsey mentioned of “Drive” in 2015. “I was in a session with Tim Anderson, and he was just playing around with these low, vibe-y sounds, and then I wrote ‘Drive’ in probably about 10 minutes. So I read the song out loud to him, and he looks at me and mutes the rest of the track and turned up the bass, and it was the sound of a car engine. And I was like, ‘This is fate! Let’s do this thing!’”
Although this was her first studio album, Halsey had already amassed a devoted following on-line. At simply 20 years outdated, the New Jersey-born singer had already been releasing music on her personal phrases earlier than being signed to Astralwerks Information. So it is sensible that she wouldn’t be shy about placing her artistic prospers on its manufacturing.
“I asked about putting the sound of a door opening or seat belt sound in there,” Halsey mentioned in 2015 of “Drive,” including, “We end up starting the song with this signal sound of ‘ding, ding, ding.’ And then I took the song to Lido who executive produced the whole record, and he turned that ‘ding’ into an actual beat that followed through the song. That ended up creating this genius moment in the center where the door slam and beat all match up and it puts you outside of that car.”
As Halsey celebrated the tenth anniversary of Badlands launch in 2025, the story of “Drive” continued. A newly filmed music video was premiered in September, taking followers again to the world of the album. As one YouTube commenter declared, ”
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