Halsey, 20 year old LA-based songstress, is bursting onto the scene so rapidly that she’s leaving us barely any time to catch our breath. Her much-anticipated debut album Badlands is an impressively ambitious 16 track venture, each track more abrasive and brutally honest than the last.

In the pop music industry, the taboo of females freely expressing their sexuality has slowly been vanishing; Halsey is surely hurrying this process along. Her songs are surely not “ladylike”, and it’s an incredible relief. Although her voice is sugar-sweet, her lyrics are dirty and raw, and she doesn’t care if you don’t like it. On “Control”, she spits “I can’t help this awful energy / Goddamn right you should be scared of me.”  She doesn’t tiptoe around anything; she avoids lovesick crooning and party anthems and digs right into the core of her psyche, singing about isolation, sex and depression with absolutely no filter.

Though it can be said for sure that Badlands is catchy and answers loyally to the Top 40 siren call, the sheer grit of the LP is something that sets it apart; makes it known that the infectious melodies aren’t all that the songs have to offer. Angst spills to the brim in most every track, each more tortured than the last. It’s aggressive and in-your-face, yet somehow you don’t mind. “Gasoline” is one of the strongest tracks of the LP, combining whirling and unique melodies with hard-hitting lyrics. Halsey seems to have poured out all of her insecurities into an explosion of a song, three minutes and twenty seconds of self-confession.

“New Americana” feels strangely out of place wedged between bitter ballads. It’s a track about American youth, boasting lyrics “We are the new Americana/High on legal marijuana/Raised on Biggie and Nirvana”. The song is a weak link; it’s a vapid, weightless transition into a bevy of more intelligent tracks with some emotional heft. “Hold Me Down” heavily samples from alternative-electronic band Son Lux, the end product being another radio-ready track.

Badlands is something different, something refreshing. Although some tracks may feel like they are merely filling space, the album ventures into vulnerable territory that no pop star has dared to enter. Halsey spills the hard truth about adolescence, young adulthood, relationships, inner demons and everything in between. And it’s a complete breath of fresh air.