Serene, calm and commanding. The atmosphere that 22-year old Billie Eillish brings about on her third studio album, “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT,” is absolutely divine – especially on the first track, “SKINNY.”
The quaint guitar, bass, and strings on that track completely entrance the listener into Billie’s world: one of heartbreak but also one of curiosity and inspiration.
The effortless transition into the next track, “LUNCH,” a silky and seductive banger that explores themes of Billie’s newfound queerness and her willingness to dive right into pleasure is a theme that is not foreign to pop songs, however, Billie’s sincereness and excitement with the subject makes me believe that this is a topic that she has wanted to tackle for a while now.
The lyricism and on-the-nose stylistic leanings of Billie is not just with her, but with her brother and sole producer of the record, Finneas, as well.
The crisp yet subdued bass lines are absolutely perfect for this record and its atmosphere. Billie, like she is in the cover, is completely submerged in water, however, she still is floating, a feeling directly felt in the next track, “CHIHIRO.”
Back to the lyrics and how they fit in with the theming of the record, Billie sings in “CHIHIRO,” “Open up the door, can you open up the door?/I know you said before you can’t cope with any more/You told me it was war, said you’d show me what’s in store/I hope it’s not for sure, can you open up the door?.”
In this track, Billie is struggling with not only this newfound sexuality and queerness, but she is also struggling with this new relationship she has found herself in.
Billie could even be read as borderline obsessive, with those themes carrying over into the eighth track, “THE DINER.”
“I’m waitin’ on your block (I’m waitin’ on your block)/But please don’t call the cops/They’ll make me stop/And I just wanna talk (I just wanna talk).”
Some would speculate that this verse reads as Billie musing from the perspective of one of her crazed stalkers, however, I interpret it as an analogy to her own loving obsession over the subject of the album’s story. I also view it as a sister track to “CHIHIRO,” showcasing the darker side to new love: obsession.
“HIT ME HARD AND SOFT” also has its grander moments, like in “THE GREATEST” and “BITTERSUITE.” The booming rock instrumental passages and vocals of Billie hit in both of those tracks, the latter of which shocked me with the fact that it has three tonal changes.
The last track, “BLUE,” is a synthy, cold but uplifting track about heartbreak and how you can move on from it.
“I try (I’m not what) to live in black and white, but I’m so blue (But I’m not what you need)/I’d like (Not what you need) to mean it when I say I’m over you/But that’s still not true, true.”
Then, the track fades out and fades in again for a soft, beautiful piano ballad about their past lover’s upbringing and how they are inherently more similar than she’d like to think.
The strings carry the track out and it fades, but not before we hear, “But when can I hear the next one,” referencing another album on the way soon, (or it could just be a plain tease to her fanbase.)
Overall, Billie Eillish’s gorgeous and stylistic new album stunned and shocked me, in all the best ways. She continues to make records equally as good as the last and has continued to carve her place in the pop-culture zeitgeist for years to come.