billie eilish

the other day in Chicago I overheard some Actual Teens talking about Billie Eilish, and it's fairly uncommon for someone in the general alt-pop space to both be actually popular with actual young people who are not extremely online, and to make interesting music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBRi6aZJGj4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za8Ki4CCXgg

Saw her earlier this year at the Paradise in Boston and crowd was 95% under 18, super triple thrilled to be there and knew EVERY SINGLE WORD.

She has lots of really good tunes. "Idontwannabeyouanymore" is a classic.

Really liking the new single after what were a couple of misses for me. I like that she re-did that track w Vince Staples, but, thought it was trash compared to the album version.
Here's to hoping her love of hip-hop continues to get integrated better and better over time.

second of those much more promising than first

Thank you for starting this thread, katherine. I'm on board.

yeah, the second is my favorite thus far -- not so much in sound but in misanthropy it reminds me a lot of early laura marling

I think this one is the song I like best from her discog to date

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVUmSgzgOqs

I love the attitude and conviction in these and that bass rumble in "you should see me in a crown" is >>>

My 11-year-old stepkid is obsessed with her - not bad! A lot better than most of the other pop stuff she listens to, and I'm not even sure where she first heard Billie Eilish since it doesn't seem like she gets much radio play? Is she on a kids'/teen show soundtrack somewhere?

"Lovely" with Khalid was on the 13 Reasons Why soundtrack

Hmm I haven't let her watch that show cause I don't think she's ready to handle the subject matter. She does listen to Khalid quite a bit though, so maybe just came across during a YouTube binge.

"you should see me in a crown" is v v good.

New song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6WNdcZpDhQ

i like that one. its video is grippingly dramatic

I noticed “when the party’s over” is in the top 20 of global spotify streams. What’s the story behind this? A movie/ad license? Was she famous prior to this single?

Check her play counts on Spotify. She's been quietly big for awhile.
She was already on her way at the time, but the track w Khalid really pushed her over.

she seems to be similar to halsey in that she's been able to build up a very large teenage following prior to scoring any proper radio hits

I've tried to ignore her for some time because of her idolisation of and connection to XXXtentacion, but I'm pretty taken with this latest single. There's a lot of The Love Club EP about it.

I've tried to ignore her for some time because of her idolisation of and connection to XXXtentacion

this is a thing with young artists I've just given up on because it increasingly seems like one would have to write off the entirety of current pop artists (and that's just based on what's known and out there, god knows how many collaborations were planned/scrapped)

oh i didn't know that re: x

guess i'm not surprised tho

New single is great:
https://youtu.be/xXFdnHiGwos

She keeps finding new wrinkles on what Billie EIlish songs are with all these singles. Great fun having her making so much music.

64th in the world on Spotify?
That's like Future (#60) level of fame. If "Fine China" or "Realer N Realer" don't take off, he's dust.

1 more popular than Juice WRLD (#65).

(Kids redacted) pic.twitter.com/wRF6TSLrBn

— Stephen malkmus (@dronecoma) December 11, 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUHC9tYz8ik

debut album scheduled for release march 29th. i semi-consistently enjoy her new releases so i guess i'm anticipating it!

is it wild to say that this one almost reminds me of róisín circa ruby blue

ICYMI, this was pretty interesting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm0MGnuRnH0

is it wild to say that this one almost reminds me of róisín circa ruby blue

― monotony, Thursday, January 31, 2019 1:45 AM (three days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

not at all, it's very "night of the dancing flame"

Good call.

this songs pretty good and I like the production but the current trend of suicide ideation as a sign of artistic credibility annoys the fuck out of me

Michael, I notice that too. Inwards aggression.

billie could u not https://genius.com/Billie-eilish-wish-you-were-gay-lyrics

whatever u say abt her she's much better than lorde

Based on those lyrics that seems... implausible

i haven't spent much time with lorde's music really but that seems like a perfectly defensible position to me

I like Billie Eilish but wow that seems totally wrong to me.

Call me when she's released something as good as "The Louvre" or "Writer in the Dark".

no one in history has ever described what they like about "the louvre" without mentioning its sole memorable line

it's good tho so i feel bad for dissing it

i always thought lorde was insanely overrated (esp by press ppl eager to have a young woman star or w/e during peak poptimism) so i have something of a bias here...the amt of hype leading into her soph project was ridic considering how quickly it faded afterward

but to me billie eilish whatever her other faults sells u on her as a kind of auteur in a way i never got from lorde personally

I've tried listening a few times and I wish she should speak up a little more.

I'm getting to the point where I can't really even listen to anyone who seems like a rich kid

her music is dreck and the claim that she's better than lorde is simply outrageous

which artist's hit tune contains the line "i'm kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air, so there"

Yea the 'so there'part almost seems like it was written by a self mocking teenager - I think her lyrics have come on a fair bit since then

fwiw I think most of the songs in this thread are better than "the louvre" or "writer in the dark"

So this is like soundcloud rap but pop/r&b? Everything madd my teenagers now seems to have this overriding note of bleakness that’s different than merely “sad” or “angsty”. (Not a critique—an observation).

this is the first wave of new music that’s made me feel old and out of the loop.

I think musically lana del rey is a better reference point than lorde, btw, but this is coming from a slightly different emotional place. (love lana)

it is that overriding note of bleakness that makes one feel out of the loop. i got it with brockhampton too. it is the music of *prepares self for trenchant overload* people raised by smart technology rather than humans, and therein lies the bleakness

I don’t want to go too far in saying why this kind of music is resonating with people born after 1995 but it certainly is. i’m wondering what exactly the musical qualities are that i’m picking up on

I learned about Billie Ellish from the 9-year-old.

He probably found her not from TV or a movie, but through a combination of TikTok, YouTube and Roblox.

Meanwhile, my Discover Weekly playlist on Spotify thinks I need more Canned Heat in my life.

My discover weekly wants to firmly keep me mentally in 2007. All the comfort food indie of my college years plus a bit of tasteful postpunk for when I feel retro. Maybe spotify is trying to protect me from something.

The idea of a 9 year old liking a song like “when the party’s over” is baffling to me.

Which one did this kid like pplains?

"Bury a Friend"

And yeah, my reaction was BURY A FRIEND???

Hey, I like this. It sounds fresh.

I'm getting to the point where I can't really even listen to anyone who seems like a rich kid

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Sunday, March 10, 2019 11:41 AM (two weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"Billie Eilish was born Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell, on December 18, 2001, in Los Angeles, California. She was born into a family of musicians and actors. She grew up with her elder brother. Her parents, Maggie Baird and Patrick O’Connell, were popular figures in the American entertainment industry."

I don't even need to Google these suddenly famous people anymore to discover that they are the pop music equivalent of landed gentry. Just once I'd like to be shocked to discover that one of these overnight successes was the son or daughter of a mail carrier or elementary school teacher.

https://i.imgur.com/I169CLm.jpg
lol @ the brother's face

why do i hate that picture so much? they all seem happy. you just sense something corrupt at the heart of it. like maybe the shadow of people who suffered so this family could enjoy such privilege, idk.

i did not have a great childhood, parents divorced when i was 3, but it was not awful either. but maybe it's just envy?

one of her middle names is literally pirate

what a cleverly curated family dog, it looks like the little rascals dog. barf.

and you know these parents are LIB AF but do you really trust that? i don't

This is all over the place stylistically but what's surprising is how much of it basically sounds like vintage store indie that's been messed around with a lot. Like take away some of the production choices and you could put several of these songs on a Feist album and no one would notice.

Hahaha I just got to the schaffel track as well, it's like an even darker more introverted version of the sort of thing that would have turned on a Britney album c. 2007-10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDr4ITrp7YI

As usual, Sean Evans does a great interview. She's entertaining, sometimes just a kid, sometimes mature perspective on her fame and art.

Bleak pop, to paraphrase treesh, is something I cannot but endorse. 'bury a friend' is pretty good.

She’s totally an industry plant, but because the audience it's directed towards is generally unfamiliar with this style of music it's successfully passed off as being something new and different.

Asides from pop music politics, she does have some cool songs and I don’t mind it.

Who do you think does it better?

It’s not about who does it better, it’s that she is being marketed as a counter-culture heroine against all these vacuous, party music in the charts sold by the same label she’s on.

Gotcha.

who the fuck cares whether anyone is an "industry plant"

What sort of plant is she? Like a yucca or a cactus or maybe a spider plant or something like that?

idk i think the term industry plant has to be reserved for people who the industry keeps pushing, but never develops a real fanbase. Eilish got a nudge from her label, no doubt, but there's also no doubting that she's genuinely extremely popular

So this is like soundcloud rap but pop/r&b

... no not really at all

also i like this a lot, it sounds cool as hell

i dig a few of these songs. it's bleak or whatever but also not too serious in a way idk i'm cool with the vibe

idk i think the term industry plant has to be reserved for people who the industry keeps pushing, but never develops a real fanbase.

Like Francis and The Lights.

The idea of a 9 year old liking a song like “when the party’s over” is baffling to me.

― Trϵϵship, Friday, March 29, 2019 1:55 AM (eleven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

absolutely baffling to me that adults would wring their hands over why a 9-year-old would like a pretty piano ballad

Idk why either a 9yo liking a sad song or an adult wringing their hands about it would be baffling to someone who is familiar with popular music history.:P

this is better than i expected. it is funny to listen to it w/o visuals given the narrative around her... how different is this than like alessia cara/skylar grey? less mawkish certainly & she has some wit about her clearly. i guess matt dc is picking up on the same thing just a diff axis of music. reading the description of this on apple music and it mentions tyler the creator & stuff which.... i guess. all of that stuff kind of undersells how this is just a pretty well done version of the sort of very female alt pop album that has existed throughout the last several decades of pop music. i guess i find the updated flourishes to not be such a leap but if she didn't come along branding herself the way she is somebody else would've. actually this reminds me a lot of xxxtentacion sonically.

anyway i didn't realize "you should see me in a crown" is that song that sounds like... every song on reputation. not a bad song but that one threw me off. "wish you were gay" and "when the party's over" stood out to me but as far as album tracks go she sounds better on stuff like "bad guy" and "my strange addiction" than i would've figured.

Idk why either a 9yo liking a sad song or an adult wringing their hands about it would be baffling to someone who is familiar with popular music history.:P

― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Friday, March 29, 2019 1:59 PM (ten minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

just weird to think of this particular artist as some kind of line in the sand imo. "xanny" reminded me of fiona apple of all things. beyond the well-defined and executed aesthetic this is just... songwriting

it's almost like they're reacting to the idea of the sound in their head than the songs themselves

ok ok you're right, popular music history bears this out over and over

I suppose the key difference is that this sort of move is usually pulled by artists like Sky Ferreira that hardly anyone cares about, where its reasonably obvious that this album is going to be massive. Like there's a lot to be said for gaining people's trust and she's clearly done that.

Also she has personality in spades and while we've all heard similar stuff in the past we haven't heard it done quite like this and certainly not in the context of late 10s mainstream pop.

It’s not the music I have a problem with, it’s the “disneyfication” of teenage angst and depression. Big labels banking on teenage angst is nothing new but this move in particular feels very cynical to me.

It's not the only thing that's nothing new.

https://www.ssense.com/en-us/editorial/music/dont-ask-billie-eilish-to-smile

*under a series of pictures of Billie posing miserable:
- Billie wears Marc Jacobs jacket and Marc Jacobs pants.
- Billie wears Kenzo jacket.

My 12yo loves her. She gets furious when I say ignorant-dad stuff like “this is a bit Lana Del Rey”. Because LDR is what she liked in 2017.

Literally every artist interviewed on what is obviously a fashion website has those captions including teenage girl pabulum like Syd and Yaeji.

Depression : 2fashion4me

It’s not the music I have a problem with, it’s the “disneyfication” of teenage angst and depression. Big labels banking on teenage angst is nothing new but this move in particular feels very cynical to me.

― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, March 29, 2019 4:38 PM (fifty-four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

'big labels' banking on artists w/ their own pov is a tale as old as time & she does that ... how is this ilx and you're using the concept 'industry plant' sincerely

Good songs, interesting sounds, good hooks, my gals love it. Fuck the haters.

she makes me feel old and yeah pop music this decade does seem to be bleak in a different way than in previous eras, and it kind of freaks me out sometimes that our 12yo is really really into it, but then I remember that young people's music is meant to confuse and worry the adults in their lives so it's cool.

I think "Bad Guy" might be my favourite thing she's done so far?

have people confused about why teens like angsty music ever been teens

Her stuff makes me feel less old than the teenybopper hits of yore. If anything, angst seemed to have gone out of fashion for a while, which I found distressing.

hm maybe i love this album

particularly feel that way during the "my strange addiction" -> "bury a friend" -> "ilomilo" sequence

otm that is where my ears perk up

Second half owns. And the previously released stuff works even better in this context.

i like this better than lana del ray

I like this better than fever ray

today in faint praise

r u billie ray?

This, like the Ariana Grande record, is absolute crap. Can't wait for this mostly rotten decade to fuck off.

I personally think that those involved in pop music should be aiming higher and aspiring to better.

― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Wednesday, February 20, 2019 8:21 PM

^^You're being a dumb asshole for holding this opinion and then showing up in pop music threads to shit on it anyway. Stay the fuck away if you don't like it.

seven months pass...

ok listen to me now billie ellish is very good!!!
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Wednesday, October 20, 2019 8:21 PM

The mistake that you're making is assuming that this is aiming higher and aspiring to better. It isn't - it's fucking lousy.

(xpost)

Pop musicians have got so fucking lazy that I'm getting immediately fatigued by the sameyness - and this is aaaaabsolutely no exception. Someone really needs to give things a kick up the arse - although critics accepting any old shit is hardly helping things.

Thankfully, if I feel this way then I sure as hell know others do. Can't wait for the inevitable backlash where people get bored and decide to step up their game.

I haven’t even listened to this album, I’m just not here for your dumb bullshit.

Thankfully, if I feel this way then I sure as hell know others do.

Lol. And also, new board description?

Okay, so you disagree that those involved in pop music should be aiming higher and aspiring to better, then, and you're prepared to wallow in blandness. Don't let me stop you!

(xpost)

as the person who created this thread, though I personally love the album, I am more OK with people who don't like the album posting in this thread that they don't like it than people who haven't heard the album posting in this thread to derail it about how they don't like a poster

Thanks Katherine :)

Stfu ur dumb

as the person who created this thread, though I personally love the album, I am more OK with people who don't like the album posting in this thread that they don't like it than people who haven't heard the album posting in this thread to derail it about how they don't like a poster

― like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), 30. marts 2019 23:00 (five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Nah, blame the troll, not the trolled.

I do not want to turn this into another thread where only positive opinions about an artist are permitted, if someone else wants to start a "billie eilish is amazing and no dissenting opinions are allowed" thread they are more than welcome to do so

(to be clear, I do in fact think the record is great, but)

have people confused about why teens like angsty music ever been teens

I think it's the opinions on pop music in general that are ticking people off. It's in fact explicitly what morrisp is reacting against, and I presume morrisp has at some point heard pop music.

Also damn y'all

have people confused about why teens like angsty music ever been teens

Lol that's the thing. like I know it's irrational to worry too much, but it's still a weird thing seeing a kid go from constantly begging you to take her to the playground to sitting in her room in the dark blasting Billie Eilish all day.

Billie Eilish, a strong feminist icon. Afro-latina. Disabled (wears retainers). Queer. Honestly and truly an inspiration for the youngest. pic.twitter.com/biaBBxUMlk

— david (@glitteRIP) March 29, 2019

I have questions

my thread isn’t a positive opinions only thread!! god

and i submit that billie eilish is good

Wearing braces on your teeth is not a disibility

the tweet is obviously facetious

I promise it's not.

how can you even tell

I assumed it was a joke

holy shit where's my retainerbuxx

I get more Kate Bush than Lana Del Ray. Granted, I think i have barely heard any Lana Del Ray songs.

I don't feel old listening to this. It seems pretty universal pre-teen/teen all serious, mood and gloom.

I think most teenage girls go through a phase where their parents think they are sociopaths.

I am specifically referring to "^^You're being a dumb asshole for holding this opinion and then showing up in pop music threads to shit on it anyway. Stay the fuck away if you don't like it." this isn't a stan forum

yeah that attitude is really childish. dissent is fine, it's just that turrican is really bad at it

Don't say, I'm not your type
Just say that I'm not your preferred sexual orientation

how do grownups listen to this

huh didn’t know she was afro latina

I apologize for getting hot under the collar; guess I was successfully trolled. FTR, though, it had nothing to do with suppressing dissent or wanting to see only stan posts — much less anything to do with this record, which as I said I haven’t even heard all the way through (I listened to a few tracks and decided it wasn’t even enough “for me” to have/express an opinion on).

IMO, pop is no different from hip-hop, metal, etc. — if your stated opinion is “it all sucks nowadays,” and yet you feel the need to pipe up and proclaim that you also think individual examples of it also suck (without even explaining why), you’re going to draw some heat. But I know I’m not the board police, so sorry again.

you still don't get it -- you were not trolled, you encountered someone whose opinion about a piece and/or genre of music differed from yours.

(it's particularly weird with regard to an album like this, where it's not hard to see why it might be polarizing for some people -- it isn't engineered for maximum likability, it is gen z as fuck without leaning into "omg so precociously beyond her years!" in the music itself, it is clearly influenced by genres a lot of people really, really hate, like soundcloud rap)

I must be thick, to me it just sounds like a well engineered dark pop record with a sense of humour.

Trolled, “triggered,” whatever — sorry again.

I hear enough “pop music sucks” IRL that I guess I reached a breaking point.

(Though IMO spreading unproductive hate in threads about a genre you’ve already stated you don’t like is a kind of trolling.)

I must be thick, to me it just sounds like a well engineered dark pop record with a sense of humour.

― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Sunday, March 31, 2019 5:53 PM (forty-six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah, this is my stance, but I've read so many comments on reviews/profiles that are like "sorry this actually sucks," and then there was that whole attempt at a mini-backlash a few days ago

"Xanny" could be like a '73/'74 era Roxy track.

If you like melody, modernism and a colorful personality, she really ain't that hard to enjoy?

I hear enough “pop music sucks” IRL that I guess I reached a breaking point.

― get your hand outta my pocket universe (morrisp), Sunday, March 31, 2019 9:55 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Well, I'd be the last person to say that pop music sucks. I like pop music, and some days believe there's very little that beats the thrill and rush of a really good pop song/track. I just really hate it when creators of pop music insult the artform by either getting lazy or putting out shite, and I've heard a lot of music which falls under this umbrella this decade.

'putting out shite'

what is lazier than literally anyone who records anything is what turrican says about music he doesn't like.

Judging by the music, I completely disagree.

my 10 year old goddaughter is really interested in this album, which makes me want to listen to it

Music and cultural "taste" is backed up with correct arguments and facts, not "digging".

― Banaka™

I was ready to hate this, but all the kids are right. It's great.

Yep.

I think most teenage girls go through a phase where their parents think they are sociopaths.

That's the (somewhat winking) conclusion this excellent book comes to, which I almost highly recommend to anyone, not just parents of girls:

https://www.amazon.com/Untangled-Guiding-Teenage-Transitions-Adulthood/dp/0553393057/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=untangled&qid=1554554652&s=gateway&sr=8-2

That said, my older girl seems into this person, and yeah, "gen z as fuck" seems like a good way to sum up her appeal and also why she might turn someone off. For some reason when she plays here this summer she is doing an early and late show, which doesn't seem like something that happens very often anymore.

(book is called "Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood")

Never been a teenage girl iirc but you'd be forgiven for thinking I too was a sociopath at that age.

I don’t think she seems like a sociopath, just (in the songs) a little bit of a zombie.

The album is better than i thought though. But gloomy and dull by design—that’s the sound of the moment

When the party’s over is the best one i think

dang I forgot to vote for "Stay". you all would loooooove my falsetto on that one

gloomy and dull by design

My jam. Nothing makes me feel more alone than the sound of enforced happiness.

oops wrong thread, should say here, you all would loooooove my falsetto on "Bad Guy"

I thought you were going to say '8'.

it's not really a falsetto album, I was scrambling

so have we settled the matter?

If it’s good or not? I think it’s a very characteristic album for this era. That’s all I’vd really been saying.

i think it's good. i'm not taken by all the tracks yet but still compelled to keep listening. bizarrely "you should see me in a crown", which i didn't like much as a single, has grown on me in the context of the full album

weird that pre-teens are now listening to witch house tracks. this stuff is surprisingly good though.

I like this a lot. yeah her voice does sound like LDR. whatever. the music is good too.

I don’t hear the LDR comparisons... it sounds closer to say, Sofi Tukker to me.

this podcast on her music was good, ends with an interview of her brother

https://www.switchedonpop.com/billie-eilish-is-a-different-kind-of-pop-star/

I haven't listened to Switched-on Pop in a while. Thanks for the reminder.

i'm getting a little hooked on some of this

it's interesting because her brother's solo music is... well, not bad, but not as good as this

I can see Bad Guy used in a lot of tv/movie preview montages and stuff

it's interesting because her brother's solo music is... well, not bad, but not as good as this

Weird, because my takeaway from this album was that the brother is as much a discovery as Billie herself. It takes something special to make the soporific sound of the moment wake up a bit while still ticking all the pertinent streaming-friendly boxes, but as far as I’m concerned they’ve done it.

(Of course it’s possible that I’ve just sorely missed the sound of a 4/4 kick drum at a tempo above 110, and “bad guy” and “bury a friend” are very much scratching that itch. But even the trappier stuff like “you should see me in a crown” still feels like a novel twist on the given formula.)

I really like this, especially the 2nd half. "I Love You" is beautiful

good mix
https://itunes.apple.com/us/playlist/in-my-room/pl.2a0b1ea7704842f4b956e959067b8389

Tricky being in there makes a lot of sense.

hi i'm old and all the "who is billie eilish? WHY is billie eilish?" writing somehow made me not getting around to listening to her music for a while and.. i really like it!

also otm:
have people confused about why teens like angsty music ever been teens

― like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Saturday, March 30, 2019 9:22 AM (one month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Hi, I'm redeeming my late pass here because I just encountered "Bury a Friend" and went "holy shit wow"

I get the Lorde comparison due to a similarity in their vocal quality (that was my first thought when I heard the song) but, as I hear more, the comparison starts falling apart because the overall approaches are so different.

I could have made the exact same post about two weeks ago!

I'm listening to the album for the first time and it's much less aggro/gothy than I was expecting on the whole from the marketing. It's really nicely mixed, big dynamic range.

re: the "My Strange Addiction" - "Bury A Friend" - "Ilomilo" section Brad referenced upthread, I keep thinking of a slightly different world where Selena Gomez chose to go this direction and how she would probably kill at these songs.

I also keep thinking about how I hear these strong similarities in her work to other artists but how they cohere into a vision that is 100% singular and fascinating. I don't get why anyone would react so negatively towards this.

yeah other than "Wish You Were Gay" and the Office samples I don't get the hate either, unless it's just kneejerk anti-zoomer-ism or something

the only thing i don't particularly care for here is "8"

wonderful debut

'When The Party's Over' reminds me of FKA Twigs. And I get all the comparisons (Lorde, Gomez et all) but it's to her advantage that she's not easily pinpointed. I think this is a wonderful album all in all, with the aforementioned one or two misses.

I'm imagining a new combo single in the vein of "Ladies' Night"/"Bang Bang"/"Lady Marmalade" only it's Selena Gomez, Billie Eilish, Demi Lovato, and Lorde doing "Temple of Love"

— DJP (@djperry1973) June 10, 2019

Her music sounds really good when you hear it randomly played during a normal day.

Would stream xp

i think the lorde thing was less a direct sonic comparison and more of a cultural/contextual thing? i could be wrong tho

i prob posted this upthread but i thought what is cool about this album is how despite her narrative as a gen z groundbreaker or w/e it fits into a sort of cross genre continuum of bold female driven pop

A good RS comparison was to PJ Harvey's To Bring You My Love timeframe.

I've cooled on the album since April. About half the album is too quiet or her melodies aren't strong enough to compensate for the deliberately malnourished arrangements. The only one of the slow ones I like is the mandolin track that reminds me of Portishead's "Deep Water."

the "bad guy" memes that were floating around twitter for a bit recently were v cute/funny

in case you don't listen to the radio (wouldn't blame you), that song is now officially Blowing Up there, her first proper cross-metric hit

I realized there is an entire continuum of people who are younger than I am, missed a lot of the late 90s reference points we've cycled through (and might not be up on contemporary peers) who have tween children listening to Billie Eilish

lol

I listened to this in full and thought it was Bad™. But also, it’s Not Meant for Me®.

I don't understand this "intentionality" nonsense. I guess I shouldn't watch movies, read novels, or listen to music since 98 percent of their products weren't written for or by gay Latino men.

If you don't like the music, say so. But don't pull the this-music-is-for-adolescent-girls garbage.

I think ultimately shattering the doors to other genres of music that have traditionally been closed off by listeners themselves (let alone the media by implicit or explicit bias in coverage and attitude) is an immeasurable positive for society (let alone for one’s own personal taste). Which is not a judgment call on those who dislike certain albums or artists but it’s an encouragement to free the mind.

bad guy is really a cool song

as is "when the party's over." the artistry is undeniable. the mood of anhedonia is still something i think needs unpacking by some kind of really good music critic though. it's the thing about this album that makes it sound new.

The turn that "listen before I go" takes toward the end is magnificent.

But don't pull the this-music-is-for-adolescent-girls garbage.

You're totally missing (or intentionally) misrepresenting what I meant by that comment, Alfred. And if you think this board needs MORE of ppl's chest-puffing takes on music that doesn't fit their taste profile... well, you're not gonna get it from me.

(Also, and obviously, "adolescent girls" aren't any more a uniform taste bloc than dudes in their 40s; why would you assume I'm painting with such a broad brush?)

LOVED her Radio 1 Big Weekend performance, and the reaction it got from her fans. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p078s4n8

my sister and niece are going to see her at Radio City Music Hall this week

I've heard one song on WFMU

Her music seriously suffers from diminishing returns, she’s huge this year but I feel like once removed from the hype these collection of songs will quickly fade away from the collective consciousness. But then, I reckon the use once and throw away fits what her main audience look for in music consumption.

Her public image is more carefully constructed than the album itself which throws different things to see what sticks but without a discerning personality behind it. I assume a follow-up is in the works and it’ll be more interesting to see where she goes from here imho.

My daughters adore her and are not into "dispose thoughtfully after use" as a cultural aesthetic, thanks.

album's only grown on me, the way the second half gradually tightens into dissipation feels carefully constructed, idk

I don't get the diminishing returns, maybe she will fade away but I like her more after listening for a few months

according to the eight year old daughter of some friends, Taylor Swift is "old" and also "bad" and Billie Eilish is both cool and good.

― omar little, Thursday, June 13, 2019

lol

Eight year old daughter of some friends otm.

I reckon the use once and throw away fits what her main audience look for in music consumption.

Except that the majority of her clearly rapt Radio 1 Big Weekend audience knew every word of every song, and sang back so loudly that she almost became their backing vocalist. It was extraordinary.

her personality comes through clearly and coherently on this record even though there’s a lot of a stylistic variation, that is part of why it’s so good

The fact that you can hear them goofing off between songs is a big part of the appeal of the album...

the album is pretty uneven imo but overall p fantastic. the production palette is so refreshing. and of course the songwriting is killer

Hard not to rlly like an album that feels like it draws equally from Fiona Apple and Claude von Stroke.

The Lex described her as Fiona Trapple the other day and now I can never unhear that.

Lol that’s great

Ofcourse there's already a dj out there with that exact name

I really didn't think she would have staying power but the more and more I listen, the more I like the songs. Her entire aesthetic for right now is so great too.

But then, I reckon the use once and throw away fits what her main audience look for in music consumption.

― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Tuesday, 18 June 2019 02:29 (yesterday) Permalink

Not to pile on, lol, but this is exactly the opposite of true, like perfectly 180 degrees wrong

Probably been said elsewhere, but "Bad Guy" is such a total AMSR trip.

I've always liked the idea of music that has real tactile quality, and she certainly does that here, although I think her bag of tricks is a bit limited.

I gave this album another try last week and only made it halfway through. I believe that I may never get it.

haha u r old

It's probably bad that every time I watch a video one of my first five thoughts are "keep mf'ing marilyn manson away from her."

I’ve finally realized what “bad guy” and ilomilo kept reminding me of.

She can hang out with Yolandi though.

although i guess Yolandi has her own set of issues.

I love Billie Eilish, and I find it kind of fascinating she is the big thing in 2019. Really great debut album.

Geir, do you like Lorde?

fuck yes

Geir!

I think I speak for Geir when I say, flopson does indeed like Lorde.

Uh oh I hope this doesn’t cause Geir to change his mind

New version of Bad Guy w/@justinbieber! @billieeilish https://t.co/bPIcipNO1i

— I Heart Moosiq (@iheartmoosiq) July 11, 2019

undo it

Geir, do you like Lorde?

I particularly liked her last album quite a bit, but Billie Eilish is still a bit more creative, has more of that Kate Bush/Björk edge.

Wow! @ that assessment

Really surprised at what you guys are hearing, but OK

does generation z consider bieber an old? I am genuinely curious

he's been around nearly a decade now so i'd think so, he's not really like the teen zeitgeist anymore

I just asked my 14-year old, and she says she and her friends all like Bieber, really liked his last album, and if he was performing this weekend they would totally be excited to go. fwiw I also asked her about Beyonce and Ariana Grande, and she considered Grande the biggest (heh) star of the three, though acknowledged that "old people" like Beyonce, too, and she really likes listening to her Coachella set. But she thinks Billie Eilish the biggest star the four, if only because she is "trending" now and Grande was "trending" more a few months ago.

Interesting twist: she considers Bieber "older" than Grande, even though Grande is a year older than Bieber! She says it's because Bieber is married.

now ask them who is the most important ~artist~

Is Billie Eilish the first massive pop star who feels like she belongs to the next decade rather than this one? We're at the point in the decade where you can usually hear the seeds of what's going to happen next and she feels like a rupture of sorts from the overdriven maximalism of the last 10 years.

(For the record Gaga felt like the equivalent pop star from 2009 and that played out, sonically as well as individually).

It's a bit hard for me to imagine Eilish having a career as big as Grande's--but what do I know

I could easily imagine her having a career like Lana del Rey, right? And she's pretty popular isn't she?

(For the record Gaga felt like the equivalent pop star from 2009 and that played out, sonically as well as individually).

I mean... maybe for a few years? Gaga hasn’t felt relevant since the early ‘10s

She also wasn't, to the best of my recollection, dramatically relevant as, for lack of a better word, generational music. When I saw her c. "Born this Way," post "Bad Romance" and peak Lady Gaga, I don't remember feeling particularly old at the show. But if I went to see Billie Eilish, I think for sure I would look like a dad waiting for my kid to get out.

it was hard to imagine ariana grande having a career as big as ariana grande's when she first started making music -- yeah, she was on a nickelodeon show, but victoria justice, bella thorne, etc. aren't huge music stars

The irony is that the first I had ever really heard of Ariana Grande was when Problem came out, but I feel that song actually helped make Iggy Azalea a big star first!

My wife went and saw Billie Eilish and said it was like nothing she’d ever seen before. I mean the mania with the fans was apparently just unreal. She sold out three consecutive nights at three different venues in L.A. If anything she’s probably bigger than we realize.

Have her fans given themselves a whimsical nickname yet, like beliebers or little monsters?

I feel like the popularity of ASMR videos may have anticipated the success of her whispery muttering.

No, clearly it was all set in motion by "Wait (The Whisper Song)" by the Ying Yang Twins.

billie eilish is bigger than ariana grande was at this point in her career and i’d guess will be bigger overall when all’s said and done. she’s already bigger than ldr imo

Is Billie Eilish the first massive pop star who feels like she belongs to the next decade rather than this one?

this is how i feel yeah... she prob hasn't even heard the xx

she's gonna be big for a while... ppl really connect w the persona and her music still feels like it's in its molecular stages to me

It’s no contest between Billie Eilish and LDR right now.

I think BE just is arriving at the right time and tbh there are so many kids out there who are over so much of what they *perceive* as the usual gorgeous rich pop star bullshit and Eilish feels more real and her extreme I can’t even-ness is something they’re really into. This is just based on now several separate conversations but the young kids (8-11 yr old range) I’ve heard discuss her feel like she’s one of them and is more understanding of them.

i saw her in boston and the merch lines were long, the mr. yuk-green sweatshirts were everywhere, and the moms were singing along too

there are so many kids out there who are over so much of what they *perceive* as the usual gorgeous rich pop star bullshit

kids OTM

if been waiting for the backlash to the luxury brand name dropping IG infuncer bullshit forever but it just keeps going.

I think Billie Eilish is a result of the low key backlash, I mean there are millions of kids out there who looked at all these megastars and didn’t see anyone who represented an empathetic figure who looked and acted like them. BE is like an extreme representation of what a lot of kids are feeling and at least one kid said exactly that to me kind of directly.

Vape Store (crüt) at 11:44 12 Jul 19

(For the record Gaga felt like the equivalent pop star from 2009 and that played out, sonically as well as individually).

I mean... maybe for a few years? Gaga hasn’t felt relevant since the early ‘10s

was never big on Gaga but I felt like A Star is Born was a pretty huge deal and brought her back into the pop culture convo

it was a good movie really exceeded my expectations

I wonder if LDR's album was delayed at all by the record company due to Eilish's continually rising star? she says it'll be out in September now but it was supposed to be out at the beginning of the year. The one time I saw LDR btw (before the last album) she played the Shoreline in the bay area, it was sold out, and the crowd was insane; I was completely not expecting that.

Shallows is a banger

she prob hasn't even heard the xx

This is really interesting, I never would have made this connection... I hear the musical similarities, but I feel like they occupy entirely separate aesthetic universes somehow.

LDR's kind of weird because a lot of of her continuing fame comes from her huge social media presence. Also massive on youtube.

there are so many kids out there who are over so much of what they *perceive* as the usual gorgeous rich pop star bullshit and Eilish feels more real and her extreme I can’t even-ness is something they’re really into.

def true for my 12yo stepkid, a diehard BE fan. These are kids whose parents started instagram accounts for them even before they could hold a phone, and have grown up realising that they can't look like Ariana or Taylor no matter how much they tried.

Eilish, eye-rolling at everyone in her sneakers and baggy outfits, feels more real to them, like a cool girl at school they could actually hang out with.

related: this girl Joana Ceddia is the biggest Youtuber/IG-er among kids right now, and the most striking thing about her is how much she *doesn't* look like an IG influencer - charmingly goofy/intentionally "ugly" selfies shot in her badly lit bedroom with no filter.

I can see her possibly running into a followup problem. Either she goes for a more streamlined pop approach, losing a lot of the support from critics and the indie audience or she goes even more leftfield, losing her mainstream following by msking her "The Dreaming" or "Neither Fish or Flesh".

Being this experimental at such a young age, I can see her following the second path and becoming a David Sylvian/Talk Talk style mainstream-gone-cult act.

I checked out a few of her videos... they’re well done and I agree more compelling than just listening to the tracks alone; and I get the anti-fashion thing & see why kids like her.

It’s still not something I could personally get into, and feels so specifically sub-Lorde to me, but yeah.

The videos are what first got me into her. "Hostage" is one of her best, I think. The astonishing Radio One Big Weekend set sealed it; her Glastonbury set didn't quite get there, but friends who were there tell me her vocals were buried in the mix, so that must have lessened the impact.

To quote treesh from upthread, there's a (mild) bleakness to billie eilish's aesthetic that I don't hear in Lorde at all so the former has my preference by default. I haven't seen any of her videos.

“Hostage” is a good video, I like the song too

The Glastonbury crowd was a broad range of ages but there was definitely a large group of (mostly) young girls and some actual children who knew every single word and sang them all back to her very loudly. You could just tell that there was a real and intense connection and that something was happening.

The Bieber verse/chorus on the "Bad Guy" remix has such flat and familiar flexes compared to everything that makes this song work.

Yeah, the remix is awful.

SO ICY

this album is really good!

it’s funny reading this thread and seeing all the surprise that something this popular could be this good and weird, because listening to her record yesterday — and this was afaik my first exposure to her — my first thought was “the teens are into this? it seems that every young woman I know is into her

geir otm

I might have drinked a couple ot glasses of wine tonight, but speaking as a very cynical person: this video of her reacting to her fans covering her songs and then her fans reacting to her reactions makes me love everyone involved. Great idea by glamour, her fans react very honestly and she seems overall very charming and cool. Kind of weird this is a really long video (almost 20 mins!?) when the real audience that is directed to would lose interest way before it ends. Hell, I lost interest and was loving the idea but 20 minutes is just too much... love the concept, but I would either trim it down or divide it into two or three parts.

https://youtu.be/21Z4RIOFhMA

I kind of hate that fucking youtube keeps pushing Billie Eilish content on my feed daily just because it knows I mostly tune in for music-related content. She’s making her familiar and likeable to me even though I still feel very lukewarm about her music.

Sorry if my post is hard to read. English is not my first language and my opinions are not very interesting.

your English is better than a lot of native English speakers and I, for one, always enjoy your posts, Moka.

the "reacting to Billie listening to my cover" video got me, too. very cute all around.

<3

finally gave this album a couple listens and i like it! she's definitely a direct descendant of lana del rey in terms of music and persona (as expressed thru the music--i'm unfamiliar with the social media/celeb news side channels) but manages to make it her own.

I hear absolutely no connection to Lana Del Rey here

Me neither, I don't really get where that's coming from...

idgi either.

Be it only in terms of perceived (in)authenticity, they're treading very different grounds imho.

they're more like each other than, say, ariana grande or any of a half-dozen other woman-led vocalist acts

that is, discounting the new charlie's angels song tie-in (?)

Haven't heard it myself yet, but I overheard my daughter and her friends dissing the new collab with Justin Bieber? They didn't blame her, just him, whose voice was apparently "wrong" for the song.

Me, I think Billie Eilish fits comfortably in the mode of singers that sound like they just woke up, which is not a bad sound.

not a baaaaaad sound

DUH

Daughter and her friends OTM

They sound nothing alike obvs but I get Lady Sovereign flashbacks when I see Eilish.

This feels very Lana-ish as far as showing power and agency through performative choices:

I like it when you take control
Even if you know that you don't
Own me, I'll let you play the role
I'll be your animal

You guys and your "lyrics," I swear! ;D

(It also sounds like Ke$ha, does she remind you of her as an artist?)

to clarify, it's mostly in her vocal delivery and ~vibe~ that i hear LDR but it might be that i'm just ignorant of some common ancestor of the two. also, i'm a LDR fanatic so the comparison is meant as a compliment! i'll do some more listening and come up with some concrete examples in the next few days

Her vibe is more Fiona Apple than LDR to me

For me, Lorde is such a hugely obvious musical antecedent, I have a hard time calling anyone else to mind.

Just listen to "Watch" (from Eilish's 2017 EP) -- if you had told me this was a Lorde track, I would have absolutely believed it (it's a great track, btw):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dobJDxPEzM

I've found that like BE's earlier stuff a whole lot more than the new album.

(It also sounds like Ke$ha, does she remind you of her as an artist?)

If you can find some topping-from-below lyrics from Ke$ha, go for it...

Realized that the Ellish/Lana connection I was making was partly between Bad Guy and the "I'm your man" persona in "Mariner's Apartment Complex."

LDR? Are you guys serious?

the only LDR I hear is in the croony bridge to "Bad Guy" which is clearly a joke, since the track goes sicko mode trap breakdown after it

the connection might be dependent on how familiar you are with ldr deep cuts? i don't want to make any assumptions though.

i hear some "ride" in "when the party's over", some "lolita" in "you should see me in a crown". the chorus of "my strange addiction" reminds me of one i can't put my finger on. borrowing classic rock melodies is another of ldr's tricks and i definitely heard the "people are strange" melody somewhere on the album. to a lesser extent, i hear some trip hop w/ modern beats vibez on the album which (as far as i know) ldr helped pioneer. also she cites ldr as an influence so there's that too

In fairness, I despise virtually everything I’ve heard by Lana Del Rey so I have invested zero time in investigating her deep cuts

TBF, me neither.

I don't hear it myself, but fwiw BE herself says LDR is one of her favourite artists and a major influence.

It's not so much about their sound as their relationship to men.

Oddly enough the artist she reminds me the most is Emilie Simon but I'm not sure if she was popular at all in the US so it might be an obscure reference.

According to quora: If you like self-made artists, listen to Clairo, Cuco, Gus Dapperton, the Marias, mxmtoon, Jessie Reyes, Cosmo Pyke, Khalid, Kali Uchis. If you're looking for more like Billie's style: Troye Sivan, Hailey Kiyoko, Lana Del Rey, Madison Beer, Marina and the Diamonds, Lorde

https://www.quora.com/Where-should-I-check-to-find-more-artists-like-Billie-Eilish

haha self-made. I also think Lorde is the closest, popular reference.

mmm Emilie Simon's discography isn't even complete on spotify, it's missing it's debut from 2003 which is the closest reference to Billie Eilish I can think of, so yeah I guess she's not that popular.

She also sounds similar to Soko in my mind.

She reminds me to a lot of french pop singers from the 00's.

Exhibit A:

Emilie Simon - to the dancers in the rain

ASMR, whisper vocals + baroque melodies on synths + beats

also see: flowers, i wanna be your dog (stooges cover), desert

Thanks Release Radar
https://soundcloud.com/cameron-hurley-667779930/bad-guy-by-billie-eilish-in-the-style-of-blink-182

I was listening to Bad Guy the other day and it kept reminding me of something that I couldn't put my finger on. But then it hit me: AronChupa and Little Sis Nora.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zokn4WDPcHE

Not in terms of any direct melodic or rhythmic swipe, you understand. Sparse basic dance pop. Pseudo-goth video vibe. European folkish melodic hook.

I dunno. No one else will hear it the way I hear it probably, but I just wanted to put this out there.

"when the party's over" slayed me today

her biggest heartbreaker for me too

i definitely heard the "people are strange" melody somewhere on the album

It was the first thing I thought of when I first heard "Bury a Friend". A quick Google suggests that the Internet has noticed this.

It's a broad strokes kind of thing obv but the progression and the melodic line at the cadence are similar.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/billie-eilish-cover-story-triumph-weird-863603/

Gen X rock stars like Dave Grohl, Eddie Vedder, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Thom Yorke have been taking their kids to see Eilish perform and stopping by to say hello to the pop star. “Yorke was a little tough,” says her manager, Brian Marquis. “He was just as you’d expect: curmudgeonly, perturbed.” Marquis says Yorke told Eilish, “You’re the only one doing anything fucking interesting nowadays.”

lol fuck thom yorke

well obviously he was including himself in that

Rough analogue of Bowie praising Lorde

Recently, her family’s home address leaked online, and three fans showed up in a single day, including a creepy older guy who’d driven all the way from San Diego.

Heavy interview. That Red Rocks show sounds wild.

the quote from finneas about the particular instrumentation that does and does not work with billie's voice was very astute, I thought, the sort of observation that makes you (well, me) go back and re-listen and sure enough

the no. 1 artist in the country!

what an amazing ascent. i hope she's handling it

I can see Bad Guy used in a lot of tv/movie preview montages and stuff

― (•̪●) (carne asada), Wednesday, April 10, 2019 2:30 PM

it's pretty ubiquitous on every MTV show commercial and reality TV montage

the new Cannonball

roisin murphy is a fan

https://www.hotpress.com/music/electric-picnic-news-roisin-murphy-answers-questions-ahead-ep-22786372

Billie Eilish fascinates me – it’d be interesting to see what she’s doing live. About the rest of them, I couldn’t give a God’s curse.

lol bless her

the new Cannonball

That holds up.

absolutely

new song (kinda):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDTx6dSZl74

it's written by Billie and her brother Finneas and sung by Tate McRae (dance prodigy and youtube musician who has a pretty big following). it sounds more like Billie's don't smile at me material than anything she's recorded since, and I wonder if she originally intended to release it herself.

Finneas has also co-written a song with Rebecca Black, but we really don't need to talk about that.

...We don’t?

Finally getting around to this album. There's definitely something there, even if I find it hard to get over one of her middle names being Pirate

I like the middle name "Pirate" because it makes me feel less guilty for ripping her music off slsk :P

I feel like Billie doesn't get enough credit for being one of the most successful fanbase hijackers in history. in 2015 Melanie Martinez was the unchallenged queen of melodic, trap-influenced, slightly non-mainstream "edgy" teenpop aimed almost exclusively at 12-16-year-olds, and Billie rose to fame with a similar formula in 2017-2018 at a time when a lot of Melanie's fans had either outgrown her, cancelled her, or grown tired of waiting for a new album. a sizeable chunk of Billie's EP (COPYCAT, My Boy, Party Favor) is practically a tribute to Melanie, who was imho a more direct musical influence on her than Lorde or Lana. the difference between the two is that Melanie has boxed herself into the role of children's entertainer due to her single-minded obsession with dark childhood whimsy, whereas Billie's music has matured and evolved to the point where boomer critics and listeners have begun to take her seriously

^tbf this is mostly conjecture, and it's party undermined by the fact that people actually seem to care about Melanie's just-released multimedia monstrosity

Absolutely otm if the example of my elder daughter is typical. Although I listened to Martinez with a mental eye-roll whereas it was instantly clear Billie was in a different league.

My elder daughter confirms that Billie absorbed Martinez's fans after some sort of scandal? But that Billie does it better.

haha, I appreciate the front line reporting from both of you. it looks like Billie namechecked Melanie Martinez shortly after the release of her EP (and a couple of months before Melanie was accused of raping a former friend), but even then she felt the need to disclaim that she didn't really listen to a lot of Melanie's music. she's right about 'Soap' being a good song, but I'm glad she never fully embraced the "Bop It is a metaphor for our sex life" school of songwriting, and there's very little of that on her album

i think the tomboying of martinez’s aesthetic (which when i saw her was very “nine year old left flat after her birthday party”) is a factor here too. the big mr yuk green sweatshirts and baggy shorts are much more accessible and appealing as an emulatabke look

Aaaah she was the one I was thinking about when trying to find the closest relative to Billie Eilish’s sound and completely blanked. Had no idea she was that popular it’s been a while since I heard anything about her. I wont be watching that k-12 video because it’s too long for me as I’m not a big fan of her so it’s not particularly directed to my interests but I feel glad that an hour and a half musical video is faring rather well in views. It’s an interesting way to deliver a conceptual album and hope it inspires other artists to present ambitious multimedia projects like this one. Last year it was Whack World. But we need more musical movies out there.

Having someone like say Janelle Monae or FKa Twigs or Grimes or Beyonce, hell even Billie Eilish do a multimedia album like this would be interesting.

uh Whack World is a god tier video album - the Martinez one is embarrassingly awful.

Her SNL performances were good, I thought (at least by the standard of SNL performances)

the rotating room set for Bad Guy was pretty darned cool

Agreed

I don't like this at all.

i think i like this more than anything on the album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCTMq7xvdXU

Yeah that’s really nice.

Very nice indeed, ended up playing it a couple times in a row. Could easily envision a great Koze-style remix, too.

good drag name: billy eyelash

that's all

pleasantly surprised by how lovely this is

Tricky Eyelash is even better

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZyybvVx-js

new video for one of my favorite songs of the year

cw if you don't enjoy watching people getting burned by cigarettes

lol whatever snowflake!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my niece who turns 13 next week is a superfan (seeing her in Boston and NY next year), i was fed videos at Thanksgiving

I was fed turkey

turkey w/ Eilish vids as a side

"everything i wanted" is so nice to listen to at this time of year

Xanny def my fave song on the record.

There's something vaguely Roxy Music-ish (Stranded era or so) about it, but I can't be bothered to pinpoint exactly why. Ferry could probably do a decent cover?

i am liking what i have heard from billie.
get a lot more CREEP vibe than LDR, but i think we can be pretty certain billie has never heard CREEP.

Are u still accepting late arrivals on the Billie Eyelash train?

I tried listening to her last year & barely finished Bad Guy before I was like NOPE SUCKS IDG THIS MUSIC etc. The quiet breathy INTENSE way of singing that sounds like your back teeth are clenched is not my fave & i thought this was that (but clearly isnt) Then I saw her on the Grammys last night & was so mesmerized by her performance & (many) acceptance speeches that i was like, fuckit, she seems really cool: imma give this kid another try.

Aaanyway: Having now *listened* to the album all the way through, I love it and 15 year old me is crawling out of her corner to love this too.

She really harnesses the ugly/awkward/painful internal suck of being a teenager but not in a way that alienates; i don’t know how or if it’s just me but it feels much more self-conscious & confessional than an agressive, isolating declaration. I think that’s the real joy of digging into her music is that, forgive my teen metaphor but, I picture Billie’s world of this album as something more like a sleepover for the ppl who dont get invited to sleepovers & where what you reveal during the RIL DARK truth or dare doesnt repel or repulse but brings ppl closer

great post VG

I picture Billie’s world of this album as something more like a sleepover for the ppl who dont get invited to sleepovers & where what you reveal during the RIL DARK truth or dare doesnt repel or repulse but brings ppl closer

when will the Bond theme leak?? supposedly it's completed (well, composed)

vg otm

this album and billie rule imo

otm

Yes to all of that. I have to listen to the record in private though because my stepkid loves her so much and she won’t think it’s cool if her parents are listening to it too haha.

Am I the only one who thinks Eilish sounds a lot like the singer from Superorganism? Nifty record, but "wish you were gay" is a terrible song. Like, damn why is that on the album - oh wait it was a single?! Yikes.

Kinda surprised at the strong opinions in this thread. The record is okay, definitely a "right place right time" record, but damn. Mostly though, reading this thread is an interesting exercise in watching people feel self consciously old.

it may feel that way but it can’t be, I’m too old to exercise

(also I continue to like this record a lot and think it is genuinely striking, despite all the ambient Discourse insinuation that I am a mark and/or a corporate shill for doing so; at this point I honestly prefer the days when people would call me a dumb bimbo for liking pop music, rather than just implying I am one and also accusing me of false consciousness)

I like it too and I'm pretty resistant to the stuff. Did anyone call you a shill on ILM?

(also I continue to like this record a lot and think it is genuinely striking, despite all the ambient Discourse insinuation that I am a mark and/or a corporate shill for doing so; at this point I honestly prefer the days when people would call me a dumb bimbo for liking pop music, rather than just implying I am one and also accusing me of false consciousness)

It's a likeable record. There's a lot of formulaic elements to it, which is why I presume it is getting criticism, but a bit surprised at the vitriol. Some strong words for a record that feels harmless and trendy and has more than a few good songs on it.

no, hence why I said “ambient Discourse” (which is very heavy in the air after she won all the grammys, though the “she’s a streaming plant you fools, shun the music of no value” takes crop up every so often)

Ah, I see. Yeah, the rest of the internet is rife with such takes.

Having watched my kids engage with her rise over the last 18 months, I think it's quite clearly driven by Billie's intelligence and ability to connect very directly with her fans through the right media, alongside genuine and self-developed talent. I've seen many interviews / performances etc as part of sharing their interest, and she is unfailingly what she appears to be - a wry, witty, warm-hearted person who comes across as extremely grounded. I have nothing but admiration for the way she's built her success on her own terms - notably, since I have two daughters and I'm sufficiently old-fashioned, by resisting sexualisation as a marketing tool. Of course she's very good looking but her image and dress are about self expression rather than the male gaze, and that resonates VERY strongly with my kids. I could do without the Gucci/Vuitton/McCartney labelling but it's better than Juul I guess, and a nod to hip-hop culture which is a strong influence.
Of course this may well be a naïve take, but I was interested to read about the strategy employed by her managers which seems to be to amplify and enable the decisions made by Billie and Finneas - I'm sure having parents in that world was a headstart, too.
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/behind-billie-eilish-meet-the-managers-guiding-the-artists-global-success/

I am also late to this but I like it.

I have no idea who these weirdos are who are trolling you, K, but wtf!

everyone in my life has enjoyed this record or has come around to liking some songs

oh, to clarify, nobody is trolling me personally, but there are plenty of takes (again, uptick since she won the grammys) like "billie eilish is a corporate/industry/spotify plant and everyone promoting her has been duped"

god save us from the fucking smarks

I’d just shrug that off in the end, because you have to believe that music is promotable product and people don’t care about genuinely relating to music — in which case you are judging people as much as corporation — or you think it’s all pumped up metrics and you shouldn’t be caring about any industry acclaim. Worst case is people think critics are dupes, and they can alway just not listen to critics

I mean one of my favorite artists is kate bush but it is also true that she may not have become kate bush had emi and david gilmour not invested shitloads of money at her as a teenager

I did a poll of my friends and family via messaging a bit ago and they’re all positive or ambivalent because the one crappy clearchannel station only played bad guy

tbh we should all have invested in kate bush

Who cares what dumb wags on Twitter or wherever think, anyway? Serious q

my friend who nearly exclusively listens to the clearchannel/iheartmedia radio stations has reiterated that their format is so weird/impoverished that one of their shows is just “hey so these music sites we follow like these songs”

so either broke blogs are the plants or

tbh the idea of anyone spending money to plant an artist on anything that doesn’t already have an angle in 2019/2020 is

The idea of anyone complaining that an obviously talented pop star is being promoted by (gasp) “the industry” is totally high school.

Finneas is the plant, don't you get it

He was on Glee! (apparently)

it’s no secret that people who have gone to music school or been in successful musical ventures know “the formula”

the rest of us must read the KLF book

The manual is so good, classic bittersweet snapshot in time

Who cares what dumb wags on Twitter or wherever think, anyway? Serious q

― dad genes (morrisp), Tuesday, January 28, 2020 9:26 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

in the course of interacting with people in the real world you will often be asked the question "so what have you been listening to lately?" and it helps to not have to lie when answering it

(to be totally fair, billie eilish probably had one of the highest "oh I actually think she's good too!" ratios among pop artists, although that's declined lately/required a lot more justifying to people in my experience. probably the same trajectory lizzo had in the past few years)

OMG Eilish is the queen of "I don't usually like pop music but this is great" it's all the dads my age on the big Facebook now playing group

I hear it irl too... almost to a weird degree actually, like something is going on there

like Alex in NYC likes her iirc

If you guys are meeting a-n-y-b-o-d-y IRL who has the nerve to dis to your face whatever you tell them you’re listening to, the problem isn’t with you (or the artist)!

people are afraid to tell people what they're listening to?

people are afraid to tell people what they're listening to?

Not in my experience. I got my hair cut yesterday and my barber, a 42-year-old ex-con and member in good standing of the Latin Kings, was playing the 2014 Sam Smith album and talking to me about how much he liked it.

I think she's the rare new pop artist who successfully marries Gen X signifiers and up-to-date sonics, is what accounts for older ppl not being embarrassed to like her

like, listening to the album I thought of Tori Amos more than once, justifiably or not

i like her lot and EVERYBODY AT THE POTTERY STUDIO (aka "my world of mostly old people") love her and Lizzo a lot

A lot of my old friends all seem to like her, Lizzo and Cardi B. But they also like singing and dancing to contemporary pop. My more generic old people friends like shit like Imagine Dragons. Do old people like Lorde?

I think she's the rare new pop artist who successfully marries Gen X signifiers and up-to-date sonics, is what accounts for older ppl not being embarrassed to like her

Upon hearing "Bad Guy" for the first time, it reminded me a lot of late-model Spoon.

considering she just won like eight grammys and based on my personal experience which matches with others itt I feel pretty confident saying she is broadly popular

depends on how you define "saying"

She’s about as close as you’ll ever get to a critical/commercial/internet music nerd coalition consensus on an 18 year old mainstream pop star.

Even people who don’t like her seem to be able to acknowledge that they’re probably too old for it but can at least understand the appeal.

yeah, that was the point of my first post; however, that is changing, in large part due to the "streaming" plant discourse in the air*, plus the general "I liked them when they were underground" backlash that can happen to anyone, plus the grammys. with lizzo it's in large part due to that, plus the postmates thing, plus the (correct) pointing out of a certain kind of white woman having this weird hero worship of her. or potential foreshadowing: what happened to the general opinion and acceptability of admitting to liking arcade fire post-awards.

* obviously this only affects a certain subset of people, but those are also the people I tend to run into socially

and xp -- it's not about dissing you to your face (though that sometimes does happen, or more commonly backhanded comments) but about people thinking less of you. this kind of judgment obviously is also one of those things women experience more acutely

my whole family likes eilish (wife & i are in early 40s, daughter is 10). i think the overall minimalism of the sound works heavily in its favor.

there’s a great Matt dc post way upthread about how refreshing the relative sparseness of the production is, how maybe it portends a reaction to the maximalist 10s... I think it’s pretty awesome how “minimalist” it sounds while still being hi-fi yet intimate, warm, un-clinical, and (most paradoxically) full of little sounds and variations

plus the MASSIVE bass

yeah totally — it's definitely "produced" in the general sense, but it's not overstuffed. leaves plenty to the imagination.

I can dig it on a theoretical level but I have this primal aversion to ASMR mouth noise stuff that keeps me at arm's length. something I expect will occur more and more in the future. even some Leonard Cohen on headphones is too much for me.

she took her invisalign out for your benefit though

prob another key is Billie Eilish coming off as likable and more relatable for ppl, and also just not appearing to give a shit (tho i'm sure she does). i guess probably having a more punk rock type attitude comes into play there.

bad guy is great except for the crazy frog synth after "duh"

american bradass (BradNelson) at 1:09 29 Jan 20

she took her invisalign out for your benefit though

lol it's not her, I think it's just digital recording can be so detailed now with hardly any noise floor and mic tech has gotten to where you can get affordable stuff that performs like a $1000+ mic now, plus I think it's just a thing now I know lots of people are into it.

I notice with FM radio DJs a lot now too

I notice with FM radio DJs a lot now too

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, January 29, 2020 12:40 PM (fourteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i was listening to bob boilen on npr the other day and had to turn it off for this reason so i empathize

She’s reportedly booked to perform during the “In Memoriam” segment at the Oscars.... That’s quite a gig, hope she takes out her Invisalign!

I think her real genius is in her soft closely microphoned vocals

yeah, i don't even know who produces and records her stuff but they should be getting paid

I was listening to a lot of the album yesterday and I'm still amazed how perfectly the xanny vocals, starting at skepticism, kind of float off at the end

xp it's her and her brother in her bedroom iirc?

xp production is entirely her brother, Finneas, who also writes the music for the tracks. All in their bedrooms at their parents' house in LA. I've seen interviews where Billie points to the bed and says yeah I just lay on my back there with a vocal mic to record "Bad Guy" or whatever.

it does feel like bedroom music in the best way

does anyone know of a good edit that basically justs extends/loops the house-tempo sections of Bad Guy?

(for download)

still astonished that my 10 year old goddaughter picked up on her even before this album came out

Finneas won Grammys for producer of the year and best engineered album, so he's certainly getting recognized.

imo the biggest argument for billie eilish having actual talent is how much worse finneas's solo stuff is

fr

I assume now that Finneas will take a bunch of production jobs and Billie won't drop another album until 2022

can't imagine there are many/any production gigs more lucrative than the one he already has

he's worked with Halsey, Tove Lo, Camilla Cabello and Selena Gomez recently. Probably made a few bucks.

Her bro is reportedly readying a solo bow.

he already put out an EP last year

anything to recommend on it?
(btw maura, i liked your time mag best music of the decade and connected with a lotta your choices)

i'd have to relisten!

(and thank you :))

I've only heard "bad guy," but I liked it. That's all I got on the subject, beyond thinking it's damn ridiculous people thought she should be aware of Van Halen.

Her brother did one of those "song association" things for ELLE that made me want to defenestrate my monitor.

i have to say i have never forgiven him since seeing this picture
http://scrumptiousmoms.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Maggoe-Family.png

i'm sorry but when you're 16 you're not supposed to like family photos. you don't smile reflectively while dressed like you're doing a Tigerbeat shoot

dude wait til you see his yearbooks

let's do an old fashioned FT 'am i cool or not?'

What's wrong with that photo?

(as in -- I don't get the problem w/it, looks like a perfectly normal family pic)

a lot, not least of which dad's mock turtleneck, but i'll stop shitting up this thread now

it may sound harsh, but the revolution will not be a success without the destruction of the family as a concept

I love the bit at the very beginning where she and her brother just fall around laughing, but then at some point her laugh stops being a teenager goofing around and becomes this hollow sardonic supervillain laugh and then Bad Guy immediately kicks in.

If we do look back on this record at the end of the decade as one of those records that changed pop then it's immediately apparent from the very beginning. Just binning the permagrinning champagne maximalism of so much of the previous decade, it already sounds like a generational shift.

Oh it turns out I already made that last point several months ago.

it's a great otm point, deserved to be made again

yes^^^

Just binning the permagrinning champagne maximalism of so much of the previous decade, it already sounds like a generational shift.

Even in light of Lorde?

(I’m not knocking BE or calling her derivative, but she feels very post-Lorde to me, not something radically new on the pop landscape.)

the sadboi movement was huge, arguably having broken into the mainstream, and preceded billie by years

eilish still feels fairly radical in the current pop landscape even though lorde is an obvious predecessor

sky and lana?

Nirvana had precedents as well but it didn't stop Smells Like Teen Spirit feeling like one of those generational watershed moments, the point where things suddenly snap into focus and become huge.

sky was never mainstream and i don't think lana shares much in common musically

thank god

Is it even possible to have generational watershed moments in pop music these days with the all of the genre and scene fragmentation that the internet has wrought? I feel like the social phenomenon that was Smells Like Teen Spirit won't happen in a purely musical medium in the future.

next cultural shift will take place in a Youtube toy unboxing video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36KTm7XJucc

https://www.complex.com/music/2020/02/billie-eilish-thinks-rappers-lie-too-much

incredibly lame

yeah fuck that

rmde, not at billie

Wow, nice clickbait. Wonder how many shoes it sells them.

Side note: I had to look up "rap cap" and while I did find a definition, I wasn't able to track down an origin. Anyone know?

the sadboi movement was huge, arguably having broken into the mainstream, and preceded billie by years

― I wanna publish memes and rage against machimes (rip van wanko), Thursday, January 30, 2020 11:41 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

wtf is “sadboi”? i did a search and ilx has mentioned the word “sadboi” exactly two times before this post, both unrelated to any kind of musical genre or artist.

She’s got the Rockist™ seal of approval, lol:

Q: You appeared on the cover of "Rolling Stone" with Billie Eilish last year and have talked about going to her shows. How did you feel about her Grammys sweep last week?

Armstrong: It was great. I mean, I only heard about it – actually trying to watch the Grammys is pretty brutal, but I'm stoked for her and Finneas (O'Connell, her brother and producer). It's insanely well-deserved. Their music is very real, and you can tell it all comes from them, which is what sets it apart from what other pop acts are doing. It's not even comparable to think about what she does compared to someone like Ariana Grande. She's the real deal.

Ha I totally made a bad Billie Joe Eilish joke on Twitter the other day after Green Day posted this dumbass billboard ad (they’ve since deleted the tweet):

Green Day bringing the cringe into 2020. pic.twitter.com/9f9E9nz6hW

— Thee Anthony Fantano (@theneedledrop) February 8, 2020

the bond theme:

https://youtu.be/GB_S2qFh5lU

I feel like it's nice but doesn't quite lift off as it should

was hoping this would break the streak of ballad bond themes, it doesn't, but it's still the best bond theme since "you know my name" (low bar) and a good song worth hearing more than once (a bar which recent bond themes did not clear). in mood it kind of reminds me of "the world is not enough"

now that i've posted that i need to play "you know my name" five times in a row again

it's certainly better than fuckin "Skyfall"

and thankfully is probably too low-key to get anywhere near as much play

wholeheartedly agreed, and the less said about "the writing's on the wall" and "another way to die" the better xp

lmao "Another Way to Die" definitely tried for....something, I'll give it that

an ear infection?

i think it made me stop listening to the white stripes

Alicia Keys and Jack White, together at last! they go down like...thumbtacks and motor oil

I just relistened to "You Know My Name" and brad is otm. Though the theme songs mostly being joyless slogs suits the Craig era pretty well

The last 3 (Adele, Sam Smith and this) have all been very similar haven't they? I've liked them all. I would still have liked Lana to have had a crack at it but hey.

I dig this...

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EQsfZMqWsAcE0Cx?format=jpg

Lana admittedly would have done little to break the joylessness streak

this is really good but I also like both bond music and billie eilish more than most people

lana is a/the perfect pick for bond, esp in 2020

Lana del Rey supposedly wrote “24” as an audition song for Spectre.

Considering what came before it this is a very competent song for a Bond intro but it’s the sort of orchestral somber ballad that’s been done way too many times in the franchise. I thought Billie Eilish would be a perfect fit to revitalize what a Bond theme could be but this is way too safe. Feels like a lesser Skyfall tbh.

"competent" is the exact word I came here to use.

this is okay

First 80sec or so is great. The rest could be anyone, really.

Incidentally, Sam Smith announced the upcoming release of his new album this week. Titled To Die For.

"fine" seems about right, "forgettable" is also accurate

the recently released title track to that forthcoming sam smith album is much better than this xp

why do these bond things always have to be so annoyingly arranged

i love this so much

this is the first bond theme I've listened to more than once since A View to a Kill so it must be good

she is reeeeally blowing up huh

everything i wanted is some song. those kid a keys.

Kinda love how the song actually kicks in halfway through

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm9Zf1WYQ_A

damn this is great! she's developing as a singer I think? in a on appealing way? struck me as less mumbly

It is. What a great song. She sings it so well but, boy, would I ever love to hear Amy Winehouse sing that song!

I really enjoyed that. It reminded me of the xx somewhat except it's actually good.

rather than amazing, like the XX?

If you say so (I thought the s/t was ok btw, everything after that can perish in a fire).

It sounds nothing like the XX who are great and got better after the s/t. So there.

I actually do think she and Romy have a certain vocal similarity, though Eilish is a lot more demonstrative esp now

also "I'm in love with my future" is a cool lyric/sentiment

try singing that in six months.

j/k, I like the song.

chilly gonzales otm these are asmr vocals

This is very good and so smooth !
Perfect for a cocktail by the swimming pool as the sun sets...

The long vocal intro before the groove kicks in reminds me of Donna Summer in spirit.
Actually the track is so short it begs for an extended club remix.

beautiful song, agreed that she's taken major steps as a singer, even since 'everything i wanted'

I don’t really hear the XX? Maybe Zero7 or some other chillout/downtempo act from the early 00s.

I thought of the xx because of the barely-there instrumental substratum in the first half and her voice's mild R&B inflections. I can hear echoes of Zero 7 as well, maybe even a bit of Radiohead.

Yeah I got strong turn of the millennium trip-hop/downtempo vibes from this. Like Esthero.

half of esthero is responsible for the weeknd so that's not surprising

welp I learned something today!

(I don't hear any of them so much as something cathy battistessa maybe would sing on)

this maybe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unt6WExrupg

It's got kind of a Cardigans vibe to me

dammmmmmn what a song

it's okay

Her voice sounds terrific (and I’m listening thru an iPhone speaker). Don’t know how I feel about the song, but what a performance.

Lol at the hype, this is okay but if anyone else released this noone would care.

i listened again and i think i was being mean, it really is quite nice

The esthero comparison is otm. I couldn’t quite place what it reminded me of but that’s it... I don’t hear that much difference between say “that girl” and this.

https://youtu.be/CJ-6vzIqsg4

Not hating the production is great and she’s a very competent singer but as a song it’s very non-descript ripe for some cafe del mar compilation.

Seriously go to 2:00 and tell me that couldn't break into "love me love me say that you love me"

This just got recommended to me via youtube...:

Noga Erez - You So Done

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn813NKlhzI

Sounds influenced by Billie Eilish.

"my future" is amazing... there's something understated about the groove that displays fluency w/ the reference points but isn't trying to show off that reminds me of velvet rope

@buzzfeed @upworthy

For those interested – she’s doing a $30
livestream concert today/tomorrow (depending on where & when you’re reading this): https://livestream.billieeilish.com/

(or 10 years in the past... depending on when you’re reading this.)

anyone watching? I wonder how much she's making off this; worldwide, $30 a pop, preshow is pretty lined up with sponsors (beats, Verizon, fender). Good for her.

This show is fucking wow. These projections are amazing

Cool video. (Parking at the Glendale Galleria was probably easy for once.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUQl6YcMalg

holy "family affair" batman

Very cool: http://billie.withyoutube.com/

Per RS: https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/news/youtube-billie-eilish-infinite-bad-guy-video-1093765/

To celebrate that milestone, and the fact that Eilish’s smash hit is one of the most-covered songs the platform has ever seen, YouTube is releasing what the company calls “the world’s first infinite video,” which takes short clips from tens of thousands of “Bad Guy” covers and randomly links them together, creating a new visual every time. Thanks to AI that can recognize song structure, the clips are always strung together to fit the sequence of the sing.

In truth, the “infinite” video isn’t actually infinite. But, according to YouTube, there are 1.46 x 10^100 years of video combinations, so it would be impossible for a person to see the exact same sequence more than once in their lifetime. The video was created with 10.5 million seconds of digital content.

Not Billie, but this performance was really powerful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-5qRTeuX8w

Ugh I hate that I kind of love her now but there’s no denying she’s an astounding performer and most of their compositions and production suit her to a T.

I’ve even switched into thinking “my future” sounded pleasantly generic into thinking it’s one of my favorite songs of the year.

I think what’s really standing out to me after seeing a few of her live videos is how much confidence she has in her own voice and how often it’s stripped from too many things going on except for layers of vocals (e.g. “my future”, “when the party’s over”, “everything I wanted”...).

Anyways, she’s won me with the mellow ballads. Still not a fan on her more “fun” side (therefore I am, bad guy...) but I do love “bury a friend” so I might be getting there.

Is that Leeann Rimes on The Masked Singer?

That is the rumor

she's doing a song with Rosalia which would be a lot more exciting if it wasn't for a TV show soundtrack (Euphoria)

It's not TV...

isn't it?

.... it’s HBO

Lol

High five D-40!

i can't remember the last rosalía collab i actually liked (was it "con altura"??) so i fully expect this to be underwhelming

I can hear a middle ground in their sound that makes me think this could actually be good.

Oh... this is out now apparently.

https://open.spotify.com/album/3ZuV4xSFJnWDncgMICfFmX

Sounds good. Wasn’t expecting Billie to sing in Spanish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TsWkuWWXgc

admittedly much better than i expected

It does sound tailored for movie/tv though

I think this is great

fantastic song

as a matter of fact it’s incredible

it's not what i expected but i still find it ehhhhhh

I don't "hear" it; it's pleasant but barely there for me.

there's something about how it ends that i feel like could have been improved but i haven't any idea how

it kind of just stops playing, right?

there’s no resolution no, but it makes that last line land extra hard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzeWc3zh01g

kinda surprised no one's talking about her new single because it's really good

It is good. Are the lyrics about someone/something specific?

Taylor Swift?

“This is one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written,” Eilish wrote on Instagram. “I feel very vulnerable putting this one out because I hold it so close to my heart. This is about many different situations that we’ve all either witnessed or experienced. I hope this can inspire change.”

Last night I taught myself a few Billie Eilish songs on piano; they were surprisingly fun to play. Good chords.

I was just about to bump this thread for this song, which is great

Very Feist-y to these old ears--I like the subtle sub wubs btw 1:18-1:45/2:32-3:00 (at which point there's a decent visual pun w/r/t to her singing "If they kill your contract" while the boa's finally in full constriction position)

(Also, main verse melody's somewhat similar to "Re: Stacks" by Bon Iver, innit?)

It is good. Are the lyrics about someone/something specific?

fans think it's mostly about her ex-bf 7:AMP

Oh, he was her bf (whom she calls "Q") in the World's a Little Blurry doc.

I love the video and I love the guitar tone but this is a little underwhelming overall to me, it feels a lot more conventional than I would expect from her.

there's enough with the subtle bass synth etc. going on to make it a little more interesting than being just a straight acoustic ballad

<3

not sold on this yet, a ballad is not what i was expecting or wanted from her right now

Then wait for the album, it will probably be great in context.

1. "Getting Older" 4:04
2. "I Didn't Change My Number" 2:38
3. "Billie Bossa Nova" 3:16
4. "My Future" 3:30
5. "Oxytocin" 3:30
6. "Goldwing" 2:31
7. "Lost Cause" 3:32
8. "Halley's Comet" 3:54
9. "Not My Responsibility" 3:47
10. "Overheated" 3:34
11. "Everybody Dies" 3:26
12. "Your Power" 4:05
13. "NDA" 3:15
14. "Therefore I Am" 2:53
15. "Happier Than Ever" 4:58
16. "Male Fantasy" 3:14

it’s a really awesome song and it’s not like her releasing ballads as singles is unprecedented

It has some really cool things going on in the production that makes it stand out from the usual ballad: the synth bass, how busy the first chorus sounds when compared with how stripped it is the second time, the synths in the second verse. loving how every backing part is never the same twice and how tasteful it all sounds. Is Finneas the one behind the whole production?

I love this song, flippant remark above notwithstanding. as in many of her ballads I find her voice/vocal mesmerising.

Who came up with this idea of releasing one of the slow ones at the end of the album first, instead of the front-end bangers? Wolf Alice just did the same putting out track 9, a slow piano ballad. Lana did the same in advance of Norman Fuckin Rockwell.

it's actually the third single so far

a little disappointed that "everything i wanted" isn't on the album like the other post-when we all fall asleep singles though

“Everything I wanted” was included in the reissue/deluxe version of her previous album

I too would have preferred if they have saved it for this new one instead but I guess they needed a plus factor for the reissue/deluxe.

I also feel like it naturally belongs to that previous “era” for her.

she’s really changin up her look:

“It's all about what makes you feel good”
Billie is on the cover of @BritishVogue. Read the cover story now: https://t.co/nZmP08VlGI pic.twitter.com/Kef1sn01J7

— billie eilish (@billieeilish) May 2, 2021

i hope she doesn't completely stop dressing like a jojo character

I think gen z is less hung up on consistency. Embracing a totally different aesthetic from one day to the next is more common and accepted than it would be in the grunge era or something—there’s less meaning attached to it, less concern about seeming inauthentic or “selling out” idk. True postmoderns this gen

changing up looks for album cycles is hardly new to gen z though lol especially in the pop world

but also bowie etc. obviously

Yeah – she’s obv not Madonna, but she’s still a pop star… just a kind that didn’t exist (in the US, anyway) until fairly recently.

I don’t know how you’d even (roughly) describe her in terms of artists from decades past… Alanis meets Björk, but a superstar?

(not that there’s a particular reason to try describing any current artist in such terms – but I find it interesting to imagine if artists today had existed when I was high school or college, which kids would be into them, etc. Like I assume there aren’t still “pop kids” and “alternative kids,” and those milieus have broken down?)

Doesn't seem that weird that someone would dress differently on the cover of Vogue from the way they dress in ordinary life or even on stage.

I love the cover look so much, she looks incredible

given how selfconscious she is, its v exciting that she has taken such a big step

i hope that the feedback is positive bc i would hate for something like this to backfire somehow & make her feel ashamed/horrified/etc

idk i get weirdly parental about her! we must protect her at all costs bc she rules

According to the LA Times article in which I read about the Vogue cover (that’s how dad-hip I am):

In March, her Instagram reveal of her new hair color reached a million likes in just six minutes and became the third-most-liked post on the platform within 48 hours.

thx for explaining how a fanbase works lol i meant like, ppl in general

sorry - I was just trying to add to your comment(?) I wasn’t trying to explain anything, just enjoying the conversation…

Gotta say, up til now I always respected how she dressed for utility and aesthetic without feeling the need for "hotness". Seemed like a very grounded and healthy attitude and a super positive influence for her fans, I know both my daughters really admired it. Going mainstream followed by a pivot to movie-star blonde and revealing clothing seems like a large step backward in those terms. She was always beautiful of course, and yet it seemed like it didn't matter, but now it does which I find disappointing.
I know as a middle aged cishet dude my opinion is pretty much irrelevant on this matter, and I know that dressing that way can be a form of empowerment depending on the intention. But the lowkey playfulness of her previous image was really appealing and strong to me.

xpost sorry idk why i said that, yr good

there is power in her image thus far for sure & it made a lot of ppl struggling w body image feel like they were/are understood

but that struggle isnt always a circle - it can be a line

showing her figure isnt to say she isnt still struggling. it says that grappling with body image doesnt always have to look like one thing. achieving a vision of her self that is within reach. and there is power in owning the gaze in this moment that could be game changing for her. it could be terrifying. it could be both.

its exciting to see her try. that’s what we should support. for her or anyone.

I keep forgetting she’s only 19. She looks older than some of my cousins in their late 20s.

I guess this photoshoot is consistent with the teaser for “happier than ever”. That same sort of golden vintage look.

I don’t think it’s that “hot” of a photoshoot? I mean yeah sure she’s in underwear but something about the poses and the vintage feel doesn’t really scream “omg sexy” to me... i don’t think they were even going for a “hot” vibe but I might be too old or too latin to tell the difference.

well said VG, that's an enlightening counterpoint thank you

Actually I see she addresses every point talked about in here in the actual article.

new song is very sleepy, not much there imo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2dRcipMCpw

yeah it's underwhelming, a bit too minimalist for its own good

I kind of hate the brushed snare.

I wonder how this album will sell. She hasn't had anything close to a Bad Guy sized hit yet. Nothing has really caught on.

This is probably my least favourite of the singles so far. Your Power grew on me a lot. My Future belatedly hit me recently too.

"therefore i am" wasn't "bad guy" sized, but it was a fairly sizable hit, reaching #2 on the hot 100 and staying in the upper reaches for several weeks.

oh, I like this new one... she's right in the pocket for me, with these last two songs.

sounds like macy gray

Huge disconnect between the video and the song. I was looking without audio first and thought this was going to be party mode billie.

Why the hell is there twerking in this video when this is the least motivating song to twerk to?

the week "therefore i am" was #2 was its only week in the top 10. it did end up being a solid hit overall tho, but not even close to the level of a "bad guy"

she doesn't really need hits to do amazingly well but i wouldn't be surprised if something on the album blows up after it drops

weird video to this one but i don't mind the song

Cool video, IMO (but cleaning up that silly string… oy)

I really like the song here. Could listen to this all day.

The video is fine but there's a weird disconnect (I guess this is similar to the twerking comment) because it's impossible to imagine those mumbled, close-mic'd vocals being sung in those environments, at that distance from the camera. Obviously in pretty much every video ever made the singer is miming, but usually there's enough of a connection between sound and images to fool the brain enough that you're watching someone sing. Not here - it's really weird.

it's humorous... this is still billie eilish we're talking about

I like the disconnect!
Song is a bit meh but I don't dislike it

the gap commercial vibes of the video are weird, not sure i really "get" this era but i'm also not the hugest fan in general so maybe it's lost on me

New track - nice vibe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IFt-ecncYs

this is excellent