Review Score:

B

May 22 / 2024 –

I’m a newcomer to the whole Billie Eilish thing. She has always displayed undeniable talent, but her music didn’t appeal to me around the time her 2017 EP first blew up. And speaking of undeniable talent, her brother and the producer of each of her albums, Finneas O’Connell is a driving force behind Billie Eilish’s work. 

Even if I didn’t appreciate Eilish’s music, I did appreciate that she’s an artist who actually walks the walk. She calls it as she sees it. She was recently critical of Taylor Swift’s habit of releasing half a dozen versions of her album to bolster streaming numbers – an act that also has huge negative consequences on the vinyl industry that directly harm the revenue of smaller artists. Funnily enough, Swift just happened to drop more versions of her own mediocre music to coincide with the release of Billie’s album. Eilish also caught my attention when she sponsored public transit for her fans to get to and from the stadium in Los Angeles for a concert, a thoughtful move on her end.

Ultimately, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT is a pretty solid album at face value. “LUNCH” is the catchy lead single off of HMHAS. The bassline is well crafted and mixed, and the hook is exactly the kind of thing fan’s have come to expect from the artist (for better or worse). I’m not sure any of these tracks would be out of place on Billie’s previous albums. “THE DINER” is another dark, catchy synth driven song. But even if she’s in familiar territory, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT is perhaps her most cohesive album yet. The production is as strong as ever, thanks to Finneas. But unfortunately, also thanks to Finneas, Billie seems uninterested in pushing her sound to its limits. 

As a new listener, the dark and brooding synth lines and booming drum machine were easy to get lost in. Afterwards, I decided to go back through her discography. And I discovered that Billie Eilish was likely well within her comfort zone during the creation of HMHAS. If that’s alright with you, then by all means, please enjoy. The album is not bad by any stretch of the imagination. 

Her previous work aside, I have a hard time letting the music wash over me. One issue with very public pop artists is the blurring of the lines that tends to occur. Take Ariana Grande, for example. When she releases a song like “yes, and?”, the listener knows the exact context to it in a way that directly influences your opinion. You know that she’s been accused of being a homewrecker and a cheater, etc, etc. The song, to me anyway, feels like a gross rejection of blame and guilt. 

Billie has not, to my knowledge, been caught up in any kind of similar controversy. But there are elements of her life that I know too much about despite never intentionally seeking them out (I’m partially referring to the Jesse Rutherford of it all). Let me be clear, she’s not really to blame for these things. While there are artists who should be accused of queerbaiting, I don’t think 22 year old Billie Eilish is one of them. She gained success at a young age (before she was 18), and conversations debating her sexuality feel especially gross. You want to throw accusations around, look at Taylor Swift again. But that’s for another time. 

If I try to remove the outside context of her life, the album is much easier to enjoy. But even ignoring her personal life and placing focus on her catalog, it seems that Billie hasn’t exactly branched out from the sound that made her famous. And I can’t say that this album has turned me into a full fledged fan just yet.

Review Score:

B

Gubb wrote this review. You can’t get mad at Gubb.