Halsey's new song, "Without Me," dropped Thursday (October 4), revealing a whole new side to the artist with a breathtakingly cathartic mid-tempo breakup anthem.

Unlike previously believed, however, the track is not the lead-in to a new album.

Speaking to Zane Lowe on Apple Music's Beats 1 Radio, Halsey revealed that the song is actually not for her upcoming third studio album, but rather is a "standalone" single.

"There's a five part video series and I'm not writing myself and playing someone else and now this song is not attached to an album," she shared. "It's a standalone record. And that's the interesting thing about music—I was supposed to be taking a break and then I wrote this song and it's like, music doesn't care about your schedule. It's like, if the timing is right, you need to [do it]."

She added that it's "the most raw thing I've ever made," and agreed when Lowe asked her if it was first track she's written as just Ashley—her real name—and not as Halsey, the stage persona.

"I think that's the point. I think that's what I'm kind of getting at, is that it's like it's not protected by some character or some subplot. This is really me talking about my life. It kind of gave me like an existential crisis as an artist a little bit, because I've prided myself on being an artist who's authentic and writes about her life and all that stuff. And then when I made this and I felt just how bad it hurt," Halsey said.

Meanwhile, in a tweet the singer shared that she "cried the whole time she recorded it."

Listen, below:

Halsey's Hottest Instagram Photos

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