Billie Eilish -- Happier Than Ever: Review

Billie Eilish -- Happier Than Ever

[Darkroom]

The most exciting thing about the internet is the arguments. No other place in history has there been such a wide scale platform for debate like this. Just like how the great ideologues of ancient times coalesced in the forums and agoras to discuss justice or the meaning of life, we too collect but in the trending pages or comment sections of the internet to discuss the idols of society or the great artistic works of our time. Main difference is, of course, there’s tens of millions of participants in our debates.

And I guess our debates are about Harry Styles or Shrek or whatever but that doesn’t matter. Point is, this landscape for dialogue is unprecedented. And the best part is, you're a part of it.

Yes you, oh great listener, you are an essential part of the debate and each and every one of your shitty opinions can be heard, even if only to be told you're wrong.

And without guessing, I know that you have an opinion on the subject of this episode: futurist pop prodigy and resident teenage edgelord Billie Eilish who just released her second full-length record, Happier than Ever to Darkroom records.

I, like most people, got introduced to Billie from her colorful singles and their music videos in support of her debut record When we All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? I’ll admit it took me a bit to warm up to her but eventually I was won over by the strong originality or singles like ‘Bad Guy’ and ‘Bury A Friend’. The pairing of these slight horror aesthetics with a subtle but nuanced production style taking elements of electronic, hip hop, rock, and pop plus Billie’s undeniable singing chops made for a record that was truly exciting and felt like a unique moment for pop.

But while the first record feels like Billie’s introduction to the world, Happier than Ever feels like her damnation against it. Specifically, it feels like a grand meditation on the last three years of her life as the most popular teenage girl on earth and how she processed it, along with mentions of maturity, self-image, and a messy relationship she had a couple years ago that she can’t go forward without mentioning.

Now I’m not going to try and personify the guy whose shittiness inspired the heartbreak on this album: the story’s about Billie. But if you’re curious about him, you can find him with a quick Google search, and I’ll just say, he definitely looks like the ‘manic pixie dream boy’ type. Like, the videos of him make me just wanna pick on him or steal his lunch money, but whatever, I'm getting sidetracked.

This album feels like a cinematic mesh of journal entries all connected with Billie’s attempts to grow up. While her boss ass bitch demeanor still lingers in hits like “Lost Cause” and “I Didn’t Change My Number”, it’s certainly toned down, like Billie is reeling from the traumas of the last three years.

The pressure put on the young singer following the release of the global smash debut couldn’t have been easy, and she gives her rebuttals on the record. “OverHeated” is this chilling onekey bop that has Billie spitting bars about being overwhelmed by obsessive paparazzi, contrasting with this ghostly vocal sample in the chorus and this percussion that sounds almost like IDM. It’s a unique mix to say the least but it hits well. “NDA” is Billie discussing having to keep her love life secret, and it features this cyberpunk chorus with metallic autotune and pulsing trance synths that I just can’t get stuck out of my head.

But it’s not all gloomy. Some songs see Billie lovestruck like in “Halley’s Comet”, a lowkey but compelling ballad that shows the singer head-over-heels in long-distance romance. A personal favorite of mine is “Billie Bossa Nova”, which features a super tasty beat drawing from the genre of the same name where Billie fantasizes about hiding a quick fling from the obsessive paparazzi. Can’t help but bob my head to this one.

I think the most intriguing aspect about this album is Billie’s developed lyricism. The nuanced and visceral nature of some of these songs’ lyrics are riveting, and really being you into her mind. They hit like a truck in the opener “Getting Older”, another favorite, that enriches the listener on the critical internal dialogue that haunts this entire album. Just the way this song pairs Billie’s lamenting performance with this single chirping synth to deliver such a heart-wrenching song is astonishing, and definitely makes it one of Billie’s strongest songs to date.

While Happier Than Ever doesn’t share the aesthetics of its predecessor, it still has the iconic Finneas O’Connell tinge that connects it to the rest of Billie’s music. The understated grooves of hits like “Lost Cause” and “Therefore I Am” scream the cool but collected energy that rocketed Billie to stardom. Also, the rich vibes behind songs like “my future” or “Oxytocin” are engrossing, and are certainly nice on the ears.

I can’t wrap up here without talking about the two final tracks which exude the strengths of Happier Than Ever and wrap up the album beautifully.

The penultimate track is the title track, “Happier Than Ever”, which sees Billie’s emotions about this guy from her past come to a boil as she wonders where he is now and violently opens up about her gripes against him. The first half is a bittersweet ballad where she ponders about how the guy’s doing and what he thinks of their relationship now. But the calm demeanor leaves her voice as Billie continues listing her miseries in the second half which builds these guitars and drums into this explosive arena rock banger. The guitars are cranked to eleven and the drums triple in size as Billie’s delivery builds to a ferocity we’ve never heard before and I can’t help but scream along to her vocals as they come to a cathartic ending with the words: “Just fuckin’ leave me alone”. My god, this song is exhilarating, catchy, and just makes to be a perfect climax to the simmering temper of this album.

The final track “Male Fantasy” has Billie short of breath, post-rant, trying to ground herself and move forward. The song brings the instrumentation back to acoustic balladry, and lets the singer give a beautifully dynamic performance. While Billie is fully aware of the pain that the guy has caused her, and how she needs to heal from thereon, she can’t help but still love him and that she’ll never bring herself to hate him.

I’ll say there’s certainly an issue with focus on this album. While I expect a Billie album to be a smattering of her and Finneas’s influences, This album is comparatively messier than the debut. Some ideas here feel a little underworked, like “I Didn’t Change My Number” which seems like it's trying to be one of the album’s leading bangers, but ends up dropping the energy a bit early with its abrupt and awkward ending. But on the other end of the spectrum we have ideas like the album’s spoken word piece “Not My Responsibility” that are necessary statements to be said, but clog up the flow of the record. Like it’s a good statement on Billie’s image and over critical viewers, but I honestly think it works more effectively in short film form, and doesn’t need to be on the record.

Anyhow, Happier Than Ever is the logical step forward for Billie from her last album, with stronger performances, more dynamic instrumentation, and sharp lyrical sensibilities that reaffirm her place as one of the biggest in pop. But with her expansion forward, she loses the sense of curation from the first record, and it makes this album feel more of a mixtape than a constructed album. Anyway, it certainly puts forth some of her most interesting songs yet. My only hopes are that as she continues to develop as a musician, she keeps pushing the needle forward and eventually finds someone who doesn't break her heart badly enough to have to make another one of these.

Listen To: "Happier Than Ever", "Getting Older", "Therefore I Am"

7.6/10.