Love?... or Something Like It

In 2023, Halle began recording solo music while she was filming The Little Mermaid and The Color Purple, for which she recorded new songs including the Academy Award shortlisted song "Keep It Movin'". In August 2023, she published her first solo single "Angel", followed by 2024 single "In Your Hands".^[3][4] On October 8, 2025, Halle announced the release of her debut solo studio album, with a promotional trailer.^[5]

The album consists of fifteen tracks written by the singer herself with numerous authors and producers, including BongoByTheWay, Dem Jointz, Johan Lenox, Needlz, Sylvia Dee, Raye, Neff-U, Sid Lippman, and Sevyn Streeter, and includes four collaborations: H.E.R., GloRilla, Mariah the Scientist and her sister Chloe.^[6] Halle described the project on her social media as "a story of first love, heartbreak, and everything that comes after. [...] Once upon a time, there was a girl who believed in love. She believed everyone belonged to someone, soul for soul. All she wanted in life was to find the truest form of love. Was that even possible? And here's what happened."^[5][1]

The project has received generally-favorable reviews, with both praise for the overall darkness and warmth of the project, and slight disappointment with GloRilla's verse on "Know Bout Me".^[8][10]

Writer Shahzaib Hussain for the publication Clash lauded the "classic, stately feel" of the project "that feels unfamiliar in today's overcooked and underperformed world of modern R&B."^[7] Hussain further opined that while the latter half "lacks the momentum of the opening sequence of songs", these songs are "elevated by restraint and Halle's agile voice."^[7] In another positive review, writer Jamila W. from Shatter the Standards was impressed at the varied production and live instrumentation wherever possible, while recognizing the lead single "Angel" as "an affirmation of self-worth and resilience [that remains] the spiritual core of the record... merg[ing] R&B and gospel with cinematic strings and ghostly harps."^[9] Keithan Samuels from Rated R&B considered the album "a collection of songs [that] became the catharsis she needed to enter her next chapter...embark[ing] on a quest to find and hold onto love before it eventually slips away. When love is lost, [Bailey is] left to make sense of what it all meant and how it shaped who she is today...Although the diaristic lyrics reveal what lies behind the facade — insecurity, agony, helplessness — there's a strong sense of empowerment present."^[8]

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[11]