New album by Billie Eilish

Billie+Eilish+poses+while+showing+off+her+yellow+inspired+outfit.

Timo Leon Krause

Billie Eilish poses while showing off her yellow inspired outfit.

Abrianna Bohn, Editor-in-Chief

    The 17-year-old singer extraordinaire, Billie Eilish, has released her newest album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? with the album’s strong beats, eerie lyrics and ominous sounds it’s definitely the newest chart topper.

    The album starts off with a silly sound bite of Eilish in the studio taking out her Invisalign before starting the recording of her album. The clip doesn’t exactly set the mood of the album, but gives an honest experience for the listeners to hear the artist and connect with her.

    The second track, “bad guy”, is a smooth and smoky song complete with a strong beat and Eilish’s delicate voice singing dark lyrics. “Bad guy” has a lot of things happening in it, but it all works out so well together. It’s a surprise to find all the different sounds and effects happening in the background.

    From the electronic keyboard, to the voice effects, to the extra sounds such as fingers snapping, the song flows really well in an underground club vibe until about the last 40 seconds of the song. Right before the end of “bad guy” the song cuts to a heavy base, with raspy whispered lyrics that make goosebumps.

    Thus, the album’s main sound is set: chillingly haunting, yet soft and beautiful. One voice effect seems to contribute to this sound in many of the songs, an odd computerized version of singing through a fan, creating a vibrating voice. In Eilish’s alternating songs of dark and eerie, then soft and somewhat sad, the voice effect is put in to use masterfully.

    Every song has its own unique sound bites in the background to create the scene of the story that the song is telling. “Xanny” has restaurant chatter and clatter. “Wish you were gay” has studio audience sighs and laughter. “Bury a friend” has glass cracking not to mention the rest of the tracks, but it’s all mind-boggling, the individuality of the music.

    Track six, ”wish you were gay” is a very calming tune with Eilish’s airy soprano that’s such a rare sound in the music industry. Despite her soft voice in the song, “wish you were gay” has the type of sound that makes you want to roll down the car windows and sway in the wind as you drive. The acoustic guitar and stomp-clap beat allow for an entirely different style from her more morose songs making it a diamond in the pile of gemstones that is Eilish’s newest album.

    Another of the iconic songs released was track 10, “bury a friend”. The song is very mysterious and sounds like the most hauntingly beautiful soundtrack to a horror movie. Eilish penned the name of her album from a line in this very song, and in an interview with Genius she spoke of how after writing this number she was inspired on how to create the sound for the rest of the album.

    “Bury a friend” is certainly unequaled in its sound and subject matter, as the song is about sleep paralysis, a condition Eilish has experienced herself, and the perspective of being your own worst fears. With London-based rapper Crooks, Eilish has definitely set a new standard for young pop stars’ music with “bury a friend”.

    Not only is the music on WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? phenomenal, but the music videos that go along with some of the songs are incredible, Eilish creating many horrifyingly hair-raising scenes such as crying a river of black tears and a live tarantula crawling out of her mouth, both of which were made without the help of CGI.

    At 17, Billie Eilish has accomplished much more than the average teenager with her breathtaking talents. Having already become such a star at such a young age, there’s no telling what else can be expected from the extraordinary artist after her newest sensation, WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?