Billie Eilish – ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ album review: an honest examination of sexuality and stardom
THE SKINNY: Billie Eilish is back with her third album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, and it seems she’s got a lot to get off her chest that she’s inadvertently left caps lock on. In an emotive collision of gentle crooning, heavy grooves, tender piano and adventurous alt-pop, Billie Eilish, the person – not the musician or the celeb sensation – breaks through the crowded soundscape to reveal more of herself than ever before. The result is a potent mix that, nevertheless, perhaps lingers slightly behind its predecessors purely by virtue of the fact she’s inspired so many people that her signature sound has become less distinct.
The now-22-year-old superstar has been one of the most influential artists of the modern era since arriving in 2019 with When We All Fall Asleep. That has presented its own set of peculiar problems that she both triumphantly quashes and struggles to overcome in this latest release. Having seemingly grown up in the public eye, Eilish relishes the chance to state that we don’t really know her at all. This sentiment of taking ownership of her own sexuality, identity and life, in general, provides a central thread to the record that is as captivating as it is moving.
The flip side is that the musical innovations that underscore the sentiments she extolls have also been firmly thrust into the public eye. Thanks to the ubiquity of her music and the many imitators who have tried to copy her sound, the music itself on Hit Me Hard and Soft doesn’t quite match the freshness and potency of her songwriting position. That’s not to say the tracks aren’t epic or that she hasn’t pushed her production even further with Finneas, but merely that the world has caught up with them in the meantime.
On the odd, fleeting occasion across the record, there’s a touch of uncertainty about whether to stick or twist – to strip back to the soul sound that suits her stirring vocals and songwriting so well or plough on with the heavy production, a densely layered style of Eilish and Finneas’s own, that amplifies her hooks. The result is an array of beautiful songs that cleverly waver through a non-stop assault of key changes, tempo shifts, flourishes of dissonance and clever arresting moments of syncopation to keep you on your toes that just every once in a while hint at a studio utterance of ‘hmm, what should we do now?’.
Alas, even with this tiny asterisk, the record is never less than great. This is mostly thanks to a performer at the top of her game, proving herself to be one of the world’s finest and most earnest vocalists, and a songwriter firmly finding her feet, unafraid to be hearteningly honest.
For fans of: Reading an unattended diary, being engrossed, feeling overcome with Catholic guilt, and finally medicating the guilt with boxsets.
A concluding comment from Finneas: “Hey, sis, do you mind if, on the end of every one of your future songs, I do a load of mad production stuff in the last 15 seconds just so it’s clear to everyone how involved I actually was?”
Hit Me Hard and Soft track by track:
Release Date: May 17th | Producer: Finneas | Label: Interscope Records
‘Skinny’: There are so many personal revelations tossed into the first verse that you feel like the fly on the wall of a therapy session. Immediately, that disposition creates a sense of engagement. You’re certainly listening. Then, rising above the sentiments is a voice that sounds like strings. An orchestral coda signposts the kitchen-sink album’s intent to constantly keep changing. [4/5]
‘Lunch’: From weepy sentimentalism straight into bass-driven lust. It’s a segue that typifies the record’s refusal to stay in one lane. The use of vocals as a rhythmic meta also harks back to vintage Eilish. She might have done it similarly before, but it’s rarely sounded groovier. A sexy sensation. [4.5/5]
‘Chihiro’: Once again, in a unique fashion, the bass is the melody driver, as her topline vocal tune tangos with it. The sparsity creates a sense that something is coming throughout, and Finneas cleverly holds out, merely drip-feeding little flourishes until he yanks the phaser. But could it be more concise? [4/5]
‘Birds of a Feather’: A classic pop chorus, sees Eilish burst out in a blushing ’80s pop vocal. It’s the sort of hook that would have old-fashioned music bigwigs screaming, ‘It’s a hit’, but cleverly, the song doesn’t give itself up to that and heads back to nuanced verses, layering in a touch more sincerity to undercut the bubblegum synth whistle. [4/5]
‘Wildflower’: A softly strummed acoustic creates the most hushed moment on the album. But I’d wager that it could be almost more withdrawn, channelling the soul of Nina Simone to hit greater heights. Instead, it throws in a Phil Collins-like drum fill and just feels a touch more dated than many of the record’s finest cuts. [3.5/5]
‘The Greatest’: She croons so sweetly that the plucking in the background is rendered almost inconsequential. Above all, the honest remarks are a vocal performance that may well be one of the best of recent times. [4/5]
‘L’Amour De Ma Vie’: It’s continental beyond the chorus, honing a sound akin to. It’s a luscious cut, but the disco synth second half is a transition too far, it sits incongruously with what has come before, and feels like it’s lost its way, succumbing to 2006 cheesiness for no apparent reason. [2/5]
‘The Diner’: Finneas and Eilish certainly have a canny knack for capturing sounds you’ve never heard before. Lord knows what they’ve sampled to give this song its almost a dog bark-like sound, but it proves intriguing as the melody takes a sinister turn. [3.5/5]
‘Bittersuite’: The album’s late habit of throwing in 30 seconds of indifferent experimentation continues after a waltzy, schmoozy sound creates a track that feels like drawing the curtains on a sunny day. It might not have a golden hook, but the sounds conjured create an epic, moody wall of music. [3.5/5]
‘Blue’: The record ends not with a bang or crescendo but a finale akin to drifting off to sleep. It’s a sweet farewell and a great show of confidence from a songwriter with endless possibilities that lay ahead. [3.5/5]
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