Don’t Sleep on Billie Eilish…

DeAnte Washington

Billie Eilish’s second album, “When we All Fall Asleep, Where do we go?,” gives me flashbacks of young adolescence and teenage angst. Being a teenager is difficult, depressing and full of mixed emotions. Billie Eilish, who is 17, reminds me of 2013 Lorde vibes when she released her album, “Pure Heroine.” I haven’t felt this way about an album since listening to Lorde’s “Melodrama.” Both start with an uprising, the typical selfish teenager, but then drop to the struggles and annoyance of how quickly being a teenager drags. Don’t let that fool you, Eilish has created her own sound for the new generation, dealing with more than just the awkwardness of being a teenager in the 20th century.

The introduction was for fun, I relate to the imperfection of the teen singer who wears Invisalign and laughs at her own jokes. Then the story begins, and I find myself tapping my feet to one of my favorite songs from the album, “Bad Guy.” It’s like being in high school and having that one classmate who always has their feet on top of their desk. Erase the cliché kid dressed in black from your favorite 90’s movie and replace it with the new tomboy who can be just as rebellious. The lyrics are killer, and easy to sing along to, “I’m that bad type, make your mamma sad type, make your girlfriend mad tight, might seduce your dad type, i’m the bad guy…duh,” and the attitude lingers after the song is over.

We’re always fascinated by the popular kids and the ones who get invited to the parties, but we always overlook the dangers of the party scenes. Her second song on the album, “Xanny” addresses opioid addiction and how Xanax has become a trend in our society.  Recently, we lost one of our Soundcloud rappers, Lil Peep to an overdose of Xanax. It was soft and raw, filled with loud, blurry background noise to show her personality. Even if you don’t particularly like the sound of the song, the message is important and relevant.

The part of the album that gave me chills were her songs that delivered a message, “Listen Before I Go,” “I Love You,”  and “Goodbye.” The ending gives insight into suicide, a topic in our society that is sensitive and not discussed enough.  It’s beautiful, emotional, and in my opinion makes the album worth so much more. The last song “Goodbye” summarizes the album from the end back to the beginning.

Eilish has always left me speechless with her music since her first album, “don’t smile at me,” released in 2017.  She’s only 17 and has more to offer the world. This album took her to a new level, and she is only going to get better. “When we all fall asleep, where do we go?” should not be slept on.

When An Album is Weird, Where Does It Go?

Madison Venckus

Billie Eilish’s new album “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?” was released in its entirety March 29 after the early release of singles “wish you were gay” and “bury a friend.” Eilish’s style has always been unique, but her most recent album is unlike anything she’s produced before. Even though Eilish’s album gained a lot of positive attention, I was disappointed.

Eilish, who sung about napalm skies in her first EP “Ocean Eyes,” has quickly saturated her music with dark messages about pain and death. Catchy or not, any song that repeatedly says “I want to end me,” or refers to Lucifer as a friend is going to attract attention. Eilish’s music used to be similar to indie pop, but over the last year she’s created her own electronic, punk pop genre.

I was initially intrigued by Eilish’s music when I heard some of her older songs like “ocean eyes” and “my boy.” Not only was her voice beautiful, but her lyrics were eerily engaging. In her most recent album, however, Eilish is blunt and works darker messages into her lyrics.

I find Eilish’s older songs like “idontwanttobeyouanymore” and even “bellyache” relatable. She still has intriguing lyrics but focuses on more relatable topics like wanting to be her own person. Her style was still unique but didn’t incorporate lyrics about wanting to die. I acknowledge that her newest album is relatable to some listeners, but I couldn’t relate.

With Eilish only being 17, she has very little life experience. It was shocking to hear her sing about heartbreak and loss because she’s so young, but many listeners related to her music. Her new album highlights similar topics but integrates too much death and horror. Eilish’s song
“bury a friend” is about drifting apart from friends but goes too far to talk about killing and burying said friend. Although the stories Eilish tells through her music are fictional, cynical lyrics about murder and death are unappealing to me.

Billie Eilish’s music isn’t for everyone. The unique electric-punk-pop genre she’s developed is unlike anything I’ve heard before but attracts all kinds of music lovers. She’s an extremely talented musician with so much potential. I hope in the future she takes more advantage of her voice and veers away from more sadistic messages.