Billie Eilish, a 17-year-old singer-songwriter, released her debut album “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?” on March 19, 2019.
The album has a spooky sound to it rather than typical pop. Her vocals are raspy and soft, which add to the eerie vibe of the album. The lyrics are blunt and cover topics such as drugs and the party scene, homosexuality, suicidal thoughts and more.
The album features two of her singles including, “you should see me in a crown.” This song still remains in Eilish’s top 10 songs on Spotify. The main message is empowering, as she declares she doesn’t belong to anyone and that she’s taking control. She also references one of her most popular songs “Ocean Eyes” in this song. She sings “Cold in my kingdom size/ Fell for these ocean eyes.”
Other than “you should see me in a crown” the rest of the album was packed with brand new songs like “wish you were gay” and “bury a friend.”
“bury a friend” sounds as if it could be on the soundtrack for a horror movie, like many other songs on the album. A reoccurring line that brings the message of the song to light: suicidal thoughts and mental illness. She repeats the words “I wanna end me” in the chorus, which is both honest and dark.
“wish you were gay” is a song about loving someone who does not feel the same way, more specifically because their sexual orientation is not the same as hers. Eilish sings about the desire to tell the other person bluntly that she has romantic feelings. She sings about a woman and she doesn’t want her to make up an explanation or excuse.
“To spare my pride/ To give your lack of interest an explanation/ Don’t say I’m not your type/ Just say that I’m not your preferred sexual orientation,” Eilish sings.
Eilish ends and starts the album with a track called “!!!!!!!!” and “goodbye.” “!!!!!!!!” begins with 13 seconds of Eilish talking into the microphone and taking out her Invisalign. The last track is a lot longer than the first one and sounds like a mashup. The last song takes lyrics from each song of the album and combines them into one song.
This album may feel slow at a first glance, but when listened to a second time it isn’t hard to see the appeal of Eilish’s soft voice and sad songs. Some songs on the album may even start off sad and slower paced but gradually gain momentum. Overall the album is enjoyable, especially for people who can relate to the themes of her songs.
Rating: 4/5
Madison Appleby is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at madison.appleby@uconn.edu.