Halsey & Lauren Jauregui’s Epic “Strangers” Arrives: Listen

Christina Lee | May 26, 2017 10:02 am
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Halsey has released “Strangers,” featuring Lauren Jauregui of Fifth Harmony, off her upcoming album hopeless fountain kingdom.

The lyrics actually tell a straightforward story about a dissolved relationship, and the loneliness that quickly follows. “We’re not lovers, we’re just strangers / with the same damn hunger / to be touched, to be loved, to feel anything at all,” they sing at the hook. Yet the glorious, ’80s-inspired synth production still fits the occasion, if only because we get to hear these two women describe their past love as “she” — as in, “She doesn’t kiss me on the mouth anymore.” Typically, we only hear of girls kissing girls as part of a fling. But the stakes for women in “Strangers” are much higher.

Last week, Halsey told Zach Sang that she wanted “Strangers” to be “a love song for the LGBT community” — a rarity in mainstream pop, as she once pointed out. The “Now or Never” singer seemed intent on doing this right. So featuring someone like Lauren, who came out as bisexual in an open letter to Donald Trump, became a priority. “I was thinking to myself, if I want this song to be believable, it needs to be real,” Halsey said. “So I’m not going to put a girl on the song to sing who’s straight. I’m just not going to do it.” The end result is a song that, while unprecedented, feels true.

Listen to Halsey’s “Strangers,” featuring Lauren Jauregui, below.

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