Billie Eilish’s New Release ‘HIT ME HARD AND SOFT’ - Is it Her Most Mature Sound to Date?
All credit goes to Billie Eilish and her team for the album cover art
‘HIT ME HARD AND SOFT’ sees Eilish embracing more live instrumentation and vulnerable songwriting. On the opening track, SKINNY, she appears to be at direct odds with her sophomore album ‘Happier Than Ever’. Singing:
“People say I look happy
Just because I got skinny
But the old me is still me and maybe the real me
And I think she's pretty”
The soft acoustic guitar playing matches the breathy, almost whispering vocals Eilish delivers. This somber tone doesn’t last too long as the following track LUNCH is a lively queer romance track with a four on the floor beat and dusty bass licks throughout. Energy stays high for the next two songs before WILDFLOWER finally brings the pace of the record down once again. It’s worth mentioning the delicate percussion throughout the opening leg of the album helps fill out some otherwise empty pockets. Quiet works to this albums benefit, partially because of the delicate inclusions.
THE GREATEST is the first song where Billie’s highs and lows seem to clash sonically. Expressing feelings towards what can be assumed to be an ex lover of loneliness, but also newfound confidence from this experience. The plucky strings linger alone above Billie’s singing for much of the song. Finally the instrumental explodes open with shouts of “I loved you and I still do” followed by an orchestral section.
L’AMOUR DE MA VIE brings the tone back up, although only slightly. On this track Billie seems moved on and less heartbroken from the failed romance. The guitars are layered with effects. And the drum fills really help divide the difference in energy from the verses to the chorus.The final leg of the record ties things up sonically and narratively. It is during this run that we see the greatest shift in emotion. BITTERSUITE is maybe the most synthetic sounding instrumental, and creates a sense of tension that is only relieved by the outro, BLUE. The final two minutes sound like a song that wouldn’t feel out of place on a Radiohead album. It’s also the longest track at nearly 6 minutes.
All things considered, Eilish sounds a lot more comfortable as an artist on this record. The youthful, lightning in a bottle energy of her first album isn’t something you can plan to create. ‘Happier Than Ever’ had its obvious growing pains even as Eilish rightfully chose not to paint herself into a stylistic box. ‘HIT ME HARD AND SOFT’ is her most mature sounding record yet.