Billie Eilish was a thing before she could even sing — or at least that’s what she thinks about her evolution from a 14-year-old homeschooled “weirdo” to the world-renowned artist she is today.
“I’ve never felt like a singer,” Eilish said in a recent interview with Vogue. “I’ve never had that as my identity. The truth is that literally the love of my life is singing. And I didn’t realize that you can train that instrument and have even more fun with it. It’s fucking awesome to learn.”
Eilish’s versatile voice has long been her calling card — listening to her breakout song, 2015’s “Ocean Eyes,” today reveals an expressive yet restrained delivery, a rarity in a largely maximalist pop landscape. “Bad Guy,” from her 2019 full-length debut WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?, is even more nuanced and delightfully oddball, an impressionistic emission backed by brother Finneas’ equally unpredictable production work.
A lot has happened to Eilish since “Bad Guy” became the most-streamed song of 2019 — including multiple Grammy and Academy Awards, among a host of other accolades — but she has remained largely earthbound, a young woman impacted by the things that affect us all: relationship woes, mental health issues, drug addiction and an unrelenting anxiousness about a world seemingly spinning out of control through COVID, climate change, toxic social media and broken politics.
Eilish’s third full-length record, Hit Me Hard and Soft, surfaced earlier this year. Like her previous album, 2021’s Happier Than Ever, it mixes electro-pop elements with jazzier stylings, all supporting intimate subject matter that is also universal. Slow-burning opener “SKINNY” floats by on a bed of muted strings and a modest electric guitar line as Eilish delivers this admission via her restrained soprano: “I fell in love for the first time/With a friend, it’s a good sign/Feelin’ off when I feel fine/Twenty-one took a lifetime/People say I look happy/Just because I got skinny.”
The very next song, “LUNCH,” is a banger about Eilish’s unabashed thirstiness. Backed by a jaunty, strut-worthy rhythm section, she drops this evocative visage from the get-go: “I could eat that girl for lunch/Yeah, she dances on my tongue/Tastes like she might be the one.” And then the post-chorus kicker: “Oh, I just wanna get her off/Oh, oh, oh, oh.” Somewhere even Prince is blushing.
Billie Eilish plays Heritage Bank Center on Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. More info: heritagebankcenter.com.
This story is featured in CityBeat’s Oct. 30 print edition.
This article appears in Oct 16-29, 2024.