Even at the young age of 17, Billie Eilish is quickly becoming one of the hottest new artists. Between her androgynous style, captivating voice, and keen creative eye, the young star has taken the charts by storm. As a Lana Del Rey to the newer generation, the noir-pop intersectionality of Eilish's music has allowed her to entertain with an ominous twist.
After turning heads with a few singles such as "Bellyache", a tune fantasizing murdering her close friends, the singer moved from her first EP Don't Smile at Me and debuted with WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP WHERE DO WE GO? Utilizing a line from her single "bury a friend" to title her album, Eilish found interesting ways to break the conventions of modern day pop albums. Her album begins with "!!!!!!!", a quick blurb about taking out her invisible braces and introducing the album. She then adds another twist by adding in lines from an episode of The Office in "my strange addiction", a tactic last notably seen by Kanye West and Jay-Z in "N***** in Paris".
A majority of her songs encapsulate a violent, villainous nature; in "bury a friend", Eilish ominously repeats the lines "I wanna end me" poetically pairing the iambic pentameter to the hair-raising beat. Beyond her fearful aggression, Eilish also moves into clout-chasing lyrics in her hit "bad guy". In a more up beat, playful flow, the artist sings "I'm that bad type, make your mama sad type, make your girlfriend mad type, might seduce your dad type." Between these two personas, Eilish creates her persona as one not to be tampered with.
While these hits play off the powerful, fearless nature of her personality, Eilish and writer/brother Finneas move into a few more emotional, lyrical pieces. In her song "xanny",a colloquial term to refer to a popular party drug, Billie adamantly rejects a Xanax. She states specifically, "I don't need a xanny to feel better on designated drives home only one who's not stoned don't give me a xanny now or ever." The artist strategically paired this chorus with jolting bass to create a sense of unease.
Between her emotional lyrics in "xanny" and "goodbye", the horrific melodies and vicious language in hits like "bury a friend", the album captures many powerful sides of Billie Eilish. Alluding back to her "you should see me in the crown" intersectionality with "party favor", a beautiful acoustic piece, WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP WHERE DO WE GO? is a mix of reflections of her first EP and powerful steps into her persona as an artist.
