Halsey Reveals ‘Madonna and Whore’-Inspired Cover for ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’
Halsey revealed the cover of her upcoming album, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the pregnant pop star strolled through an exhibit of religious icons in complementary attire. She arrives, finally, at a giant canvas, which features an image of the musician, topless, holding a child.
“This album is a concept album about the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth,” Halsey wrote on Instagram Wednesday. “It was very important to me that the cover art conveyed the sentiment of my journey over the past few months. The dichotomy of the Madonna and the Whore. The idea that me as a sexual being and my body as a vessel and gift to my child are two concepts that can co-exist peacefully and powerfully. My body has belonged to the world in many different ways the past few years, and this image is my means of reclaiming my autonomy and establishing my pride and strength as a life force for my human being.”
She continues: “This cover image celebrates pregnant and postpartum bodies as something beautiful, to be admired. We have a long way to go with eradicating the social stigma around bodies & breastfeeding. I hope this can be a step in the right direction!”
A clean version of the album art was also made available to streaming services, who have been given the option to use either the original cover or edited version. (In the edited iteration, the baby sitting on Halsey’s lap covers her left nipple.)
If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power — which was produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross — drops on August 27th, following 2020’s Manic. The musician announced her pregnancy with Alev Aydin earlier this year.
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