Halsey has established herself as a powerful force in the music industry, taking her career beyond music and diving into the metaphors and artistry to make her sound come to life. The music video for her single, “Clementine,” which is the second release from her upcoming album Manic, is a testament to her profound emotions and artistic style. Halsey dropped the video on her birthday — Sept. 29 — and its artistic approach closely resembles her live performance for the Billboard Music Awards back in May.
The video takes place in the viewing area of an aquarium and features Halsey and her brother, Servian, dancing among the tanks of aquatic animals. Like her BBMA performance, the two siblings perform in-sync movements and interact with each other in a manner that symbolically gives off the feel of the push and pull of conflicting personalities. As someone who has bipolar disorder, Halsey likes to play with the symbolism in dual identities, and “Clementine,” along with her previously released “Graveyard” give a glimpse into what that looks and feels like to her. The video follows the sibling duo through the aquarium where they exude a passionate energy up until the end when they reach a tunnel and suddenly start to slow down. Halsey walks away from her brother in a hazy manner, staring at the fish surrounding her before slumping to the ground, seemingly exhausted. The video ends on the most repeated line of the song “I don’t need anyone / I just need everyone and then some.” Both the song and the video feel symbolic in many ways, and the title of her new album suggests the theme of internalized struggles will be prominent in the remaining songs of her collection.