Billie Eilish has been rather hyped up over the past few months, and its clear to see why. It's obvious to hear the influence of critics pop darling, Lorde. Her minimalist, alternative pop style is mixed with elements of trap production and on the other end of the spectrum, elements of folk. In addition to this, her dynamic voice which can be smooth and gentle on some tracks, and on others can be a semi-rapped staccato flow which changes pace and rhythm abruptly. For a 17 year old to have such a well formed and unique aesthetic is impressive.
However, behind the aesthetic I feel like there isn't all that much substance, which I'm chocking up to her young age. The album opens with this really awkward intro track then jumps into bad guy, a track where Billie talks about all these typical hyper-masculine men she knows and how she is the real 'bad guy' and they all collapse in comparison to her. I just don't buy it, it feels fake and forced. you should see me in a crown follows a similar path and feels like Taylor Swift's Look What You Made Me Do, all self-aggrandising and complete with incredibly predictable base drops as the chorus hits. wish you were gay would be a song I could get behind. It's kind of tounge-in-cheek and doesn't take its self too seriously, however its hook 'wish you were gay' is just beyond cringy. when the party's over is one of the folkier tunes on the album and it's perfectly serviceable, however with it covering very much the same topic as Lorde's Sober II (Melodrama), I can't help but compare it to that much better song.
There are some bright spots; xanny plays into her age with the lyrics about second hand smoke and only ordering a diet coke, and feels one of the most genuine moments. all the good girls go to hell and bury a friend are intriguing with their themes of death, mortality and the afterlife. ilomilo feels the least straightforward in the track-list, seemingly dealing with worries and regrets.
The other tracks on the album are mostly uninteresting, dealing with similar topics to the ones I have mentioned. Billie gets so much right with the performance and production, that it feels such a shame that the lyrics and themes seem so shallow and forced. I'm looking forward to whatever she does in the future as she is bound to grow and develop as a writer, however there isn't a lot to get me to come back to this release.
Top Tracks: xanny, all the good girls go to hell, bury a friend, ilomilo
5/10
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