Halsey revealed Wednesday that her new album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power will be out on Aug. 27.
The 26-year-old pop star and mom-to-be told fans that her fourth studio album – the follow-up to last year’s Manic – is a concept album about “the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth.”
The album cover, shot by Lucas Garrrido, shows Halsey, with one breast exposed, sitting on a throne and holding a baby. It was unveiled at the end of a 13.5-minute video in which the singer walks around New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“It was very important to me that the cover art conveyed the sentiment of my journey over the past few months,” she explained in an Instagram post. “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.”
Instagram's policy about nudity allows "some photos of female nipples, but photos in the context of breastfeeding, birth giving and after-birth moments, health-related situations ... or an act of protest are allowed. Nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures is OK, too."
Halsey said the image is meant to celebrate “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!”
If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power was written by Halsey and produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Halsey shared the news in January that she is expecting her first child with screenwriter Alev Aydin.