Of course, this question had been hanging in the air practically since Billie announced the name and release date of the news. Album When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? it made her a sensation, she took what she could at the Grammy Awards, millions of teenagers devour everything that flashes in the press and on social networks.
The expectations were huge, but already during the premiere listening to sixteen new songs, it is evident that the last person to bother with that was Billie herself and her brother Finneas, who is again in the role of producer and co-author of all songs.
“I’m getting old,” says the singer in the opening track Getting Older. Dare of a nineteen-year-old girl, but Billie Eilish is really getting old – in a ruthless show business gears, year is like day, and the singer is obviously very well aware of that. In the glow of cameras, spotlights, cameras on mobile phones, each wrinkle is more visible and deeper, while the most disturbing ones are not made on the face, but on the soul.
Brother for all the money
Billie gives an insight into herself, she sings openly about messy relationships, she looks to the future with the hope that something better awaits her than she does now – but even that can be ironic, she never really knows what she’s up to – she doesn’t avoid vulgarism, but he does not use them for himself. It carries a heart in the palm of your hand, yet you always feel that you keep part for yourself.
She often sings as if she has just woken up and a dream was still racing in her head. In the introductory verse, My Future plays thoughtfully with her voice, as if searching for the right melodic lines. After a while, the beat is added, the song gets firmer contours, but Billie doesn’t stick to them too much and only uses them as a springboard. It sounds authentic, like we were when the song was made. In this context, it is necessary to mention again the significant production contribution of Brother Finneas – who has seen Billie Eilish’s documentary: The World’s and Little Blurry, knows how important a role he plays in Bilina’s not only singing life.
Finneas knows exactly what each song needs, he can amplify his sister’s voice and also get out of his way at the right time. Oxytocin colored the song with a volatile techno bottom and nervous sounds circling around her singing. He shrouded the spoken “confession” of Not My Responsibity in a hazy ambient robe with a sound reminiscent of the ticking of a clock. Thanks to that, it’s not a problem to listen to this song, a song and, in a way, probably the most personal thing to listen to repeatedly on the album.
Leave me alone
It’s also a moment when you realize that it really doesn’t matter if Happier Than Ever is better than the debut, if it has a Bad Guy caliber hit or if it will succeed. The first question must be answered by everyone according to their taste and discretion, the second Billie and Finnease did not seem to care at all, and the third is out of the discussion. More than a million people ordered it on Apple Music alone before its release, making it the “best-selling” record in the platform’s history. And it’s actually a wonder that Billie Eilish did it with such chamber music, which is best listened to where it originated. Alone, in the bedroom or in the room, and behind the drawn curtains, so that not a single tone or a word would fly out the window.
With careful listening, the well-thought-out dramaturgy of the album comes to the surface, which has placed the strongest moments at the very end, while the absolute culmination is the dark and booming NDA. Therefore, Am has been known for a long time, here the O’Connells are once again proving their ability to come up with an inconspicuous melodic line, which, however, reliably digs into the brain with repeated playback.
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And the title Happier Than Ever is actually a summary of everything Billie Eilish goes and tries. It starts calmly, almost a cappella, then an acoustic guitar is added, Billie’s singing gains strength and emotion, a beat sounds and after a few minutes the song explodes into a stadium chant. This is exactly the moment when Billie will have the crowd below him at a gig at concerts. Just-fuckin’-leave-me-alone, it cuts off the last words of the text and the curtain flies down accompanied by noise sounds, pleasant as if you are scratching your fingernail on a sheet metal. The last acoustic ballad Male Fantasy remains, which calms the aroused emotions and passions.
Entering the world of Billie Eilish is quite easy, it is much harder to know it. She probably can’t do it at all, and it’s hard to tell if she’ll ever make it. Music seems to play a role in this self-knowledge, and even though Billie hates making new songs in his own words, Happier Than Ever proves that when he really bites and has his day, the competition doesn’t have much of a chance. Damn, all the hype that Billie Eilish accompanies and will accompany for some time to come. The music rises high above him.
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