I was first introduced to Billie Eilish by a friend in December. The first time I listened to her album from start to finish, I cried. And then I proceeded to listen to it on repeat for the rest of winter break. To be honest, my obsession with Billie hasn’t calmed down since then and for good reason.
Photo by Lloyd Pursall
While I’m writing this, I have her album on in the background and I continue to be surprised by her vocals. Just when you thought she couldn’t go higher, she does. When you think she can’t sound more hauntingly beautiful, she does. Billie’s only recently turned 16, but when you listen to her songs, she has a much more mature and pronounced voice. I think back to what I was doing at 16 and laugh; I can only have admiration for her success at such a young age. Her brother, Finneas O’Connell, writes her songs for her, which explains why some of them deal with such mature subjects. However, Billie said in an interview once that you didn’t have to have experienced what you’re singing about for it to ring true.
Billie and Finneas are Highland Park natives and come from a musical family. Both their parents are musicians and encouraged them to pursue music from a young age. Billie was homeschooled and found that it allowed her time to pursue what she was really interested in (which I would say heavily paid off).
Billie live at the Paradise Rock Club
Billie’s sound errs more on the side of pop, or as Wikipedia labels it, synth-pop. While I do think this is true, pop tends to have very bubbly and energetic connotations and Billie’s music is nothing like that. Her songs are really heavily focused on her vocals, and the background synthesizers and harmonies add depth to an already beautiful song. I recently saw Billie live at the Paradise Rock Club and was blown away when she performed a few songs with just a ukulele.
Seeing her perform live was a momentous experience for me. For the past four months, I had been listening to and memorizing her album; I saw myself in a lot of her songs and consequently saw a part of myself in Billie. One funny thing to note about her live shows is that, since she is only 16 herself, her shows don’t have an age minimum so there were a lot of young fans in middle and high school in attendance. Nothing against that, it just served as a reminder of how young Billie is but also how diverse of an audience she attracts.
Photo from Vogue
Her album “dont smile at me”, is titled such because she has stated she hates when people smile at her on the street and she feels a weird obligation to smile back, something she doesn’t like to do as it makes her feel weak. My favorite tracks on the album are “hostage,” “my boy,” “copycat,” “ocean eyes,” and “bellyache.” She also has a song that featured on the TV show, 13 Reasons Why, entitled “Bored.” One of her older songs entitled, “Six Feet Under,” is also a must. Just the other day, she released a song entitled, “bitches broken hearts,” which is beautiful and I highly recommend.
If you’re looking for songs that make you feel like an angsty teen who doesn’t give a f**k about anyone else, definitely listen to Billie Eilish. If you need an album to put on repeat in the car and scream along to, definitely listen to Billie Eilish. Find her on Spotify, Instagram, and YouTube.
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Cover photo from CBS.com