Billie Eilish’s latest album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT was released on the 17th of May reaching more than 30000 sales on its release day.
The album starts with an electric guitar stripped-down sound. Billie expresses her sadness towards different issues in her life, body image, media attention, and relationships, she starts her audience with a heartfelt song about how she felt the last few years. Her voice rings throughout the song, whispering in a way that feels personal to her, Billie Eilish perfectly explains all her emotions to start this album.
LUNCH shifts the mood, a more upbeat song focusing on a funky bassline. The single speaks about Billie’s sexuality. Immediately this feels like the perfect single for this album. It is an addictive sensual song I can envision hearing constantly on the radio. The song takes turns, and the bridge builds us to a more EDM instrumental, giving us our last ‘wow’ before the song closes.
The synths in CHIHIRO almost seem to take us on a journey. Billie’s vocal harmonies encapsulated an atmosphere almost syren-like. CHIHIRO changes between more intense to timid vocals
Billie’s mellow vocals are crucial in making WILDFLOWER such a fantastic song. The acoustic guitar and slow drums support Billie’s conflicting nature in this song. She battles with the morality of knowing how her partner broke the heart of their previous relationship. She compares herself to her. This song is an amazing raw addition to this piece of work.
THE GREATEST is another acoustic track speaking of a complicated relationship. Billie ponders about her feelings of wanting to be accepted by someone, battling with self-acceptance she ends the track acknowledging everything she has done and realising the other party is the one not trying.
The song L’AMOUR DE MA VIE (translating to ‘the love of my life’) depicts a toxic breakup, in which the narrator dates someone they don’t truly love. The majority of the song features an electric guitar being used almost solely throughout. A funky stripped-down rhythm to tell this story until the last 2 minutes when the song transforms into a
THE DINER is a fun track featuring synths that make it the perfect song for a villain in a movie. Billie’s echoed voice over the dark synths and the slight violins that pop in and out make this song perfectly ominous, resembling one of her most popular songs Bad Guy.
BITTERSUITE is one of the last songs, it begins as an intense techno track but shifts to a more calm beat. Billie’s whispering tone makes this song almost content with a state of chaos. The song transitions one more time in the last minute, you can hear Billie’s murmurs but the focus is on the dark synths that take over the whole track.
The album ends with BLUE, and by the time the song is finished, as the string instruments play, it feels like you have returned from a journey. All coming together simultaneously, BLUE is the perfect closing song for a mature piece of work.
Overall, this feels like growth from Billie Eilish. The experimenting she usually loves in her dark tracks went above and beyond in this album, which boredom is hard to feel. The last few songs experienced so many changes it felt like there were multiple short songs put together. Billie addresses a lot of pain within love but also her sexuality. This album is definitely worth a listen.
7.5/10
