Groundbreaking new alternative female artist, Halsey, teamed up with producer and electronic musician, Lido, in a song titled “Tokyo Narita (Freestyle)” last Friday. Showcasing the chemistry between Lido’s evocative production skill and Halsey’s impeccably hypnotic lyrical abilities, this new release proves itself addictive.
With collaboration already in their repertoire—a song called “Slow” released last year—the duo has already shown they can make musical magic. Halsey’s unique and bubbly voice is a seamless blend with the wonky electric backbone that Lido can produce. In this new single, the droning beat gives the lyrics somewhat of a platform to propel into the freestyle feel that the title implies. This causes an unraveling of multiple layers of sound, showing the way the duo piggyback off one another’s role in the song.
Halsey’s lyrics reference several recent musical releases in hip hop, such as Kanye West and Drake’s new album Views. Additionally, there is a sly reference to the song “Drive” from Halsey’s Badlands, which her and Lido wrote together. “And all we do is drive,” she sings, a direct lyrical quote from the artist’s debut album track.
Something about the cultural engagement of her words, along with playfully memorable lines such as, “808s and heartbeats bangin’ in your chest” and “I see people staring at us from the overpass,” bring out a certain depth in realness to the narrative at hand, a likeable feature to this freestyle single.
There’s no indication that this single is a previewing accompaniment or a foreshadow to an album of either Halsey or Lido, but it is a strong glimpse of the exotic intrigue that such magnetic collaborative counterparts as these two can create.
