The album that changed Billie Eilish’s life
Billie Eilish’s sound is ever-evolving. From the dark electro-indie of her first releases to the vast indie pop and rock of her latest record, Happier Than Ever, the young artist is clearly only just getting started. But while she waded deeper into more expansive musical waters for her 2021 sophomore effort, one album came along and changed her life.
For six years now, Eilish has sat down with Vanity Fair to record the same interview. Starting when she was a fresh-faced 15-year old, trying to navigate sudden success after her track ‘Ocean Eyes’, Eilish is now 21 and one of the biggest stars in the world.
One of the questions the singer is always asked is regarding her favourite artist. Over the years, her answers track her taste from the hip-hop band Brockhampton through to the softness of Arlo Parks in 2020. In 2022, her responses included The Cardigans and indie up-and-comer Dora Jar, as well as herself.
But in 2021, her answer revealed a significant source of inspiration from a largely unknown outfit. “My favourite artist at the moment is The Dø,” Eilish said in 2021. Highlighting the French-Finish duo comprised of multi-instrumentalist, producer Dan Levy, and vocalist Olivia Merilahti. The Dø make unique electro-pop. With only around 600,000 monthly listeners, Billie Eilish is clearly deeply embedded in the left-field pop scene she rules over.
But The Dø seem to have significantly impacted Eilish, as she claimed the duo “changed my life and perspective on music”.
“I think they only have two albums,” she goes on, “One is called A Mouthful, and one is called Shake, Shook, Shaken.” It’s the latter that stood out to Eilish, especially when it came to making her own album.
“Shake, Shook, Shaken was my main source of inspiration during the making of Happier Than Ever,” she says, “All summer, I’d listen to it to and from Finneas’ house when we were making the album.”
As a record, Shake, Shook, Shaken is vast and epic. Featuring swelling strings, classic indie guitars, heavy synths and beyond, it’s no wonder the album inspired Eilish. As Happier Than Ever became an incredibly adventurous effort, expanding on the sound she’d laid out prior, the electro-pop duo certainly had a lot to offer.
Eilish gives it major accolades without holding back her praise for the record as she says, “It changed my life.”
