Billie Eilish - "Happier Than Ever" (2021)

Billie Eilish's debut record catapulted her into global stardom with its catchy and in your face singles which incorporated an ear grabbing ASMR style vocal approach and really unique and punchy electropop and trap production from her brother and producer Finneas. While I enjoyed these elements of that record, it felt pretty lightweight from a lyrical perspective and was trying way to hard to be edgy and dark without the substance to back it up. So I was hoping that as Billie grew as an artist she would produce something with more depth to it. 

Which is sort of what we've got with Happier Than Ever, but with couple of huge caveats which make the record feel like more of a step forward and then two steps back for Billie. Now 19 and dealing with the extreme pressures of growing up in a world where she's one of the biggest names in music, the record delves into this and how it has effected Billie and her relationships both personal and public. It's certainly more mature and sincere than the forced melodramatic teenage angst of the debut (Billie even sings "When I retell a story, I make everything sound worse" on the opening cut, Getting Older). However, to match this shift in tone, the immediate and attention demanding electropop production has been pared back; instead the much more subtle and minimal influences of soul and jazz-pop (and even a smattering of trip hop) take centre stage. I understand the intent in having more adult and 'tasteful' instrumentation to back up the more mature themes, however the instrumentals generally feel lacking across the board on this album. So many feel wafer thin with no real interesting texture or progression. Ideas that feel fairly fresh at the start of tracks feel run into the ground by their conclusion.

The same can be said of Billie's vocals, she forgoes a lot of the dynamic and staccato flows of the first record for a more traditional soul and vocal jazz approach. However she keeps the hushed, ASMR style elements; which results in plenty of places that would've benefited from a powerful vocals to increase the emotional intensity of these songs. The album is long, and Billie's current vocal aesthetic is really run into the ground by the end of it. The most frustrating thing about this is that Billie is clearly an incredibly talented singer and I really like her voice, but this whole ASMR thing has worn off for me and I wish she mixed it up a bit, because I know she's capable of it.

While most the tracks here range from inoffensively passable to fairly good, what really drags the album down is it's length and general bloat. At 16 tracks and 56 minutes, with most of the tracks being slow and and quiet ballads, it just drags. The stretch from Halley's Comet to Your Power in the second half really tests my patience with slow, sad balled after slow, sad balled. Furthermore the record feels very uncomfortable to listen to, but not in an intentional way. The messy and sprawling nature of it makes it feel unfocused, like Billie is just throwing her heart on the table and baring it all to us in that very teenage way. And while emotional breakdown records like this can work (and some have become all time classics), Happier Than Ever lacks the draw in terms of songwriting and production and just ends up feeling too long, too dour and uncomfortable.

Not that there aren't highlights. The opening track Getting Older is perhaps Billie's best written song to date, being this cute piano balled about looking back on your past self and looking forward to your future. Therefore I Am is the only track with the sense of fun and snark that made some of the singles from the debut so popular, and is catchy as hell. The title track starts as the same accoustic ballad as many of the songs on the record, but half way through switches up into a massive, completely blown out stadium pop rock song that compared to the rest of the album actually feels like it has some cathartic release to it. The singles my future and Lost Cause have also grown on me, being more of slow burns than the immediate singles from the debut record.

Happier Than Ever is such a frustrating record, as it addressed my main problem with the debut, but takes so many steps backwards in other areas that it doesn't feel like an improvement. I'm still hopeful that Billie will grow into the artist she has so much promise to be, but Happier Than Ever isn't that record unfortunately.

Top Tracks: Getting Older, Therefore I Am, Happier Than Ever

4/10

Nothing But Thieves - "Moral Panic II" (2021)

 

With the global pandemic halting their touring plans to support last year's Moral Panic album, NBT much like many artists hopped back into the studio and came out with this 5 track EP, Moral Panic II. As the name suggests, it focuses on the same lyrical themes and ideas as the album. That had me slightly worried as the album felt fairly undercooked and predictable, and trying a little too hard to be edgy without the substance to back it up.

While not mind blowing, MPII is certainly a step up from the album, being better written and falling into fewer played out radio rock tropes. Every song here is better than about half of that album. The two singles Futureproof and Miracle, Baby feel slightly overproduced and blown out; but not to an egregious extent. Miracle, Baby has actually grown on me a bit, being one of the band's big slow burn songs with a massive chorus. Futureproof is definitely the weakest track, as it goes for that similar edgy but also pretty safe sounding semi-industrial instrumentation that goes nowhere near hard enough to be truly intense or aggressive and fairly shallow lyrics about "how we all care more about social media than making the planet better" that NBT have done several times, let alone other artists.

The closer Your Blood is also something I feel the band has done before, being a 90s Radiohead style ballad. This one sounds somewhere in between Fake Plastic Trees and Exit Music (For A Film). It's alright, but when the track begins to build to its climax, it doesn't do anything particularly creative or unique, just a kind of crunchy guitar riff. It really doesn't build the intensity like the way Exit Music just crashes down on you after its climactic swell.

The two other songs here are the best ones. If I Were You is pretty standard NBT, with a crunchy and swaggering riff and disenfranchised lyrics which seem quite obviously targeted at governments' poor handling of the pandemic. It's chantable and aggressive, and a decent song. Ce n'est Rien is the biggest leftfield moment on the EP, being a ferocious alt metal rager where Connor Mason literally screams, which is something new for the band. The track alternates between much gentler verses and this powerhouse of a chorus, making the track really dynamic and exciting.

MPII is a step up in overall quality from the Moral Panic album, but I wouldn't say it is at the same level of Broken Machine or the What Did You Think When You Made Me This Way? EP. It is nice to know they haven't completely lost their edge though.

Top Tracks: If I Were You, Miracle, Baby, Ce n'est Rien

6/10

Primal Scream - "Screamadelica" (1991)

 

It's time for another record from my 100 albums bucket list poster, being Primal Scream's Screamadelica. This is the group's third record, and the one which broke them into the mainstream, incorporating house and other forms of dance music into the band's more traditional indie rock and neo-psychedelic approach. The record spawned the massive singles Movin' on Up, Come Together and Loaded that are absolutely everywhere; and are the tracks from the record that I was already familiar with going in. The album, quite uniquely, was written as more traditional rock songs and then reassembled into these sprawling dance tracks by producers Andrew Weatherall and Hugo Nicolson (plus a few guests). This approach gives the album a certain loose and organic feel to it, with the more natural instrumentation and samples giving a lot of texture as opposed to the more robotic and rhythmic nature of nature of late 80s and early 90s house.

The loose party atmosphere is evident from the opening jangles and Rolling Stones-esque, gospel inspired piano chords and choral backing vocals of Movin' on Up. The track layers up into this euphoric and anthemic climax that acts as an invitation into the album, with the promise that its gonna be a good time. The vibe is instantly switched up into the neo-psych meets dub meets acid house banger that is Slip Inside this House. Originially a 60s psych rock song by the 13th floor elevators, its not as high energy as Movin' on Up but more hypnotic and spacy. Don't Fight It, Feel It is more indebted to house with it's four to the floor beat, powerful soul vocals and percussive piano hits; however this also slips through multiple sections that become increasingly enchanting as they layer up. It remains interesting and super groovy for its entire 7 minute run.

At this point in the record, the band decide it's time for the first downtempo comedown to allow us to catch our breath with Higher Than the Sun. This track actually has two versions on the record, with this first one produced by ambient house innovators, The Orb. This version is much shorter than the second one, produced by Weatherall, but I think I like it more. It's dark and spacy, with these trip-hop style breakbeats and weird ambient noises. Inner Flight builds on this, turning the dark ambience of Higher Than the Sun into a more melodic and uplifting interlude. There's no vocals on the track and it sort of functions as a reset from the first leg of the record before the twin centrepieces of the record, Come Together and Loaded, barrage in with the most anthemic and feel-good party anthems the album provides.

And barrage in they truly do. Come Together opens with a building synth line and a sample of a speech by Jesse Jackson (a US political activist) where he narrates the unifying and collective experience music provides to society. The drums slowly creep in, then does the piano notes, then the wobbly psyched out synths. It builds and builds for 5 minutes, before the hook of the song rears its head and all of the tension is released. It's such a patient and well constructed dance track that keeps interest for its 10 minute runtime without throwing the kitchen sink in. Loaded goes even harder, with its iconic "We want to be free to do what we want to do, and we want to get loaded" sample and the bombastic "I've gone all delusional" hook that just pumps you up so hard against the dramatic horn sections and the return of the bluesy, gospel outro style of Movin' On Up. This time it goes even more massive and anthemic though. It really is one of those songs that turns everything up to 11 and somehow it not only works but blows your head off as well.

The back end of the record functions as a comedown from the unbelievable high of Loaded, with the acoustic ballad of Damaged; the aptly titled I'm Comin' Down; the second version of Higher Than the Sun; and the closer Shine Like Stars. Damaged and I'm Comin' Down feature far more traditional instrumentation and strip down the neo-psychedelic elements which grounds the album in the real world for a little while, and Damaged is actually a really good bluesy ballad, even if it's a stark left turn from the rest of the album so far. I'm Comin' Down makes more use of additional instrumentation and effects, but is even more melodically simple and low key. It almost feels a little too slow at points, although the track does pick up towards the end with a cool wonky sax solo. Higher Than the Sun (A Dub Symphony in Two Parts) is slower and spacier than its earlier counterpart, with a lot of reverb on everything. The breakbeats are more smothered on this versions, and it features a central break which then builds into a bassier second half. This version certainly has more elements to it than the Orb version, but it doesn't really come together into anything particularly satisfying. This leads into the closing track, Shine Like Stars, which is probably the most forgettable song on the record. It features Bobby Gillespie wistfully singing over a simple beat and psychedelic effects and really doesn't go anywhere to be honest.

It's a shame Screamademica ends on its weakest couple of tracks because the first 3/4 of it bangs so hard. It's a really great dance record that incorporates so many styles and moods that it doesn't get repetitive or tiresome. It's iconic for a reason and great record for summer. I keep coming back to it and Loaded might be the best track to start a dance party playlist with.

Top Tracks: Movin' On Up, Slip Inside this House, Don't Fight It, Feel It, Higher Than the Sun, Come Together, Loaded, Damaged

8/10