Billie Eilish, a new age pop star, is a 17-year-old musical genius. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Eilish released her first single in 2016 with the help of her brother, producer and co-writer Finneas O’Connell. Eilish later released an EP including “Bored,” which was featured on the Netflix original series “13 Reasons Why.”
Eilish released her first album, “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” last Friday. Hit singles such as “You Should See Me in a Crown” and “When the Party’s Over,” which were released in 2018, are included in the album.
Known for her unique and quirky style, Eilish let her personality shine through in this album. “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” features 13 tracks and a 13 second album intro, “!!!!!!!” that shows off her sense of humor and her age.
By opening her album saying, “I have taken out my Invisalign and this is the album,” makes her relatable to teenagers her age and weeds out the pretentious judgmental audience she is not catering to. The album shows off her eclectic style along with her unique pop/electronic sound. Eilish’s relatability is what jump-started her rapidly growing fame.
“Bad Guy” is the first track on the album, which features a catchy beat, edgy sound and a cynical ending, which is an Eilish signature. The lyrics “You say she’s scared of me? I mean, I don’t see what she sees, but maybe it’s ‘cause I’m wearing your cologne” will end up being seen in multiple tweets and social media captions in the weeks to come.
“Bad Guy” is a song you can listen to by yourself if you are wanting to chill, listen to in the car on a road trip or even play at a party. A universal song like this strengthens Eilish’s pop star quality due to the versatility of the track. This is a song we did not know we needed, but now cannot live without.
“Xanny,” the second track on her new album, is an important social message to her young listeners and fans. Due to social pressures and societal expectations, teenagers are being pressured into irresponsible drug use and toxic dependencies on medications.
This track tells her audience it is not cool to use drugs and to numb themselves because societal pressure. The chorus features a strong message: “I’m in their second-hand smoke, still just drinking canned Coke, 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.”
Her message is simple. She is the only one at a packed party who is not using drugs because she understands the negative effects of drug abuse. Using her large and on-growing platform to spread a positive message makes Eilish even more lovable.
The use of Coke in the chorus is a double meaning for cocaine, and by saying she is drinking canned Coke, or a Coca-Cola, Eilish establishes her role model credibility. She does this again through establishing herself as the designated driver. This track is also well written and features the unique indie sound Eilish is known for.
The last track on the album, “Goodbye,” has multiple meanings. It features snippets of each song on her new album, “When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go,” which is Eilish’s way of ending her album.
The last track is also her way of saying goodbye to the pressure of creating her first full-length album. This album is a lot like a story, with an introduction track, 11 unique songs touching on different themes, and a conclusion track, which summarizes each track on the album. This is an album the world will go crazy for, whether its listeners are a fan of hers or not.
