“Lilith” (Diablo IV Anthem) by Halsey ft. SUGA of BTS, Sunday, September 10, 2023

Music promotion is very important, especially since there are more and more albums, EPs, singles, music videos, limited-edition vinyl pressings, and deluxe editions all cluttering our Spotify updates. One of the most common ways that artists grow interest in their albums is by pre-gaming their listeners with singles. Back when radio was the primary way listeners heard pop music, an artist may have released a single shortly before the album dropped. Sometimes delays in the release would cause the artist to drop another single to keep up momentum. These days artists commonly release three or four singles, sometimes up to half the album before the album’s release.

"Lady Lilith" by Dante Gabriel
Rosetti.

I DON'T NEED A FUCKIN' INTRODUCTION. In 2021, when Halsey released her record If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, she decided to forego singles, instead releasing the album at once. Lyrically, the record is filled with statements of empowerment. Musically, producers Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross transform Halsey from a pop star to a dark rock god. While the album wasn’t preceded by a single, an account associated with Halsey posted an image on Instagram before the record’s release: the painting Lady Lilith by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The singles released from the record after its release haven’t become classics in the Halsey canon as her radio-ready pop. After releasing two singles, “I Am Not a Woman, I’m a God” and “You Asked for This,” Halsey recorded other songs and seemed to move on from her fourth album cycle. However, earlier this year, she collaborated with Blizzard Entertainment, remixing her track “Lilith,” which would become the theme song to the game Diablo IV and her third single from her fourth record.

I’M PERFECTION WHEN IT COMES TO INDISCRETION. In Diablo IV, a character named Lilith plays a pivotal role in the game’s plot. Though Halsey’s song “Lilith” and the game character are mutually exclusive, both characters draw from Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology. According to the Jewish folk tale, the satirical Alphabet of Sirach, Lilith was Adam’s first wife, even formed from the same class as Adam. Recall Eve was made from Adam’s rib. When Lilith refused to be subservient to her husband, she left Eden. This account was not canonized in Jewish or Christian scriptures. The interpretation of Lilith’s refusal to serve Adam has made her a symbol of rebellion and even of the occult as she has been referred to as a demon This is even alluded to in Halsey’s lyrics as she embodies Lilith. Jewish folk legend claimed that Lilith roamed the night, acting sexually promiscuous and stealing babies. In fact, it is only a passing reference that the word Lilith appears in the Old Testament. In Isaiah 34:14, the Hebrew word for Lilith has often been translated as a kind of monster screaming in the night or some translations call the phenomenon a “screech owl.” With all the patriarchal baggage that comes from a divorce in paradise, it’s no wonder that Lilith has become a symbol of feminism, which is exactly what Halsey channels in today’s song. It certainly feels like a 2023 version of the ‘90s Nine Inch Nails in terms of how provocative this message is.