Her spoken word “Not My Responsibility” is important and powerful. The brother and sister have an ability to take a spare noodle of a sound and build a sturdy song around it, with Eilish wrapping her expressive and whispery-lush vocals. If 2019’s “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” was sarcastic, quirky, internal and angsty, “Happier Than Ever” is fuller and grander, the songs stronger in their construction, crisper. Seven Grammy Awards haven't changed her or her co-writer and producer, Finneas. “Will you only feel bad if it turns out/That they kill your contract?” she taunts. Those same evil forces are at play on the album's triumph - the acoustic guitar-driven “Your Power,” pleading with a mentor abusing his power over someone in his thrall. On the hypnotic “GOLDWING” - which starts as a hymn based on a Hindu verse - she warns a novice: “You’re sacred and they’re starved/And their art is gettin’ dark/And there you are to tear apart.” On “NDA,” she acknowledges a real-life stalker (“Had to save my money for security") and on “OverHeated,” an encounter with paparazzi leads to an examination of surgery and “plastic" bodies.Įilish also reaches up to expose unequal power structures, often returning to the theme of innocence polluted. Using that as a launching pad, Eilish goes on to explore fame and it's dark sides. The 16-track album that clocks in at just under an hour kicks off with “Getting Older” and a 19-year-old prodigy's cutting, clear-eyed observation that "Things I once enjoyed/Just keep me employed now.” It's a superb album, ambitious and mature - a young woman pulling the fire alarm while we all stare at the flames. And before the collection is done, she returns to the phrase “I’m happier than ever” but qualifies it with “When I’m away from you.” So it's complicated.įew people do complicated like Eilish and “Happier Than Ever” is a fascinating look at a messy, famous pop star's life, as diaristic as Taylor Swift but more self-critical and emotionally candid. But there's a tear running down her cheek on the cover. “I’m happier than ever,” she sings on the first song. Her reasoning behind this is that she doesn't like not having any control over the fact that this is seen as the socially acceptable thing to do and that she would prefer to feel in control of her actions and responses as opposed to just doing something because society tells her to.“Happier Than Ever,” Billie Eilish (Darkroom/Interscope Records)īillie Eilish seems to be in a good place on her sophomore album. Given that Billie has made it more than apparent that she doesn't like smiling, it's completely understandable why she would feel too much pressure to do this. She also mentioned in the interview how she doesn't like it when she's walking down the street and someone smiles at her because she feels that the polite thing to do is to smile back. Related: Does Billie Eilish Make More As The 'Saddest' Sounding Artist Than Olivia Rodrigo Does As The 'Happiest'? She revealed in the interview that whenever she smiles it makes her feel "weak and powerless and small." She didn't go on to give an exact reason as to why smiling makes her feel this way and whilst this may not be a very popular opinion, it is still likely one that many will be able to relate to.
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