The Musician Insight

A subtle shift promising more to come: Eilish’s most daring work

Billie Eilish returns with her last album, Hit me hard and soft, a body of work full of heartbreak, retrospective and playful up-tempo songs produced by herself and her brother Finneas.

The majority of the album has an emphasis on acoustic production with elements from electro and dance pop such in Chihiro, L’amour de ma vie and Bittersuite. There are also some musical easter eggs: for example, at the end of Skinny, we can hear the main melody of The greatest. This technique is used several times through the album, creating a sensation of tying everything together.

One thing that we can hear, is that Billie Eilish produced more than ever before on her album, building a shift in her sound (while still staying relevant to her artistry), and being more experimental than in any of her previous works. Her vocals are a mixture of the ones found on her two previous albums: sultry, airy and powerful when needed.

Her vocal expressions are sharper, creating with ease the voices of the different characters we meet throughout the opus. With this body of work, we get a more intimate and personal take from Eilish: her two precious works, When we fall asleep, Where do we go? and Happier Than Ever felt more like the facade of a pop star than a true diary. This skin-deep approach is emphasized with the more acoustic take on most of the songs.
The electro pop elements are a first for the singer-songwriter, serving something unexpected and refreshing.

All in all, this new project from Billie Eilish and Finneas is a testament for something greater to come, and we can’t wait to hear!

Photo © Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for ABA