Look around you (like, actually). If you’re on campus, maybe you see people walking around, drinking coffee, or hunched over their laptops. If you’re home, perhaps a beloved pet or roommate is with you. Maybe you have a bowl of soup or something. Are you perceiving something — anything — at this moment? Yes? Okay, so you’re not living under a rock. This means you are well aware that this past summer was THE pop-girly era — when artists like Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and Charli XCX ruled social media and therefore the world. Among the pop-girlies, of course, was Billie Eilish. In May 2024, Eilish released her third album, “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” and let me tell you, folks, it’s pretty good!
You may be thinking, “Gee, Sofia, May was a long time ago!” And you would be right! Tsk tsk to The Tartan (me) for not having this review written already. (I told the pillbox editors I would write this article this past September. Oops! Sorry.) However, due to the recent Grammys, the album has had a resurgence in relevance. Was it snubbed? Who can say? I’m not informed enough on the other nominees to make that judgment.
I’m not what most would consider a “Billie Eilish Super-Fan,” though I’ll happily jam to her tunes, as the kids say. That said, this is my first time listening to most of the songs on this album, and WOW, do I have thoughts! Here they are:
“SKINNY”
Immediately, this song gives us the sense that this album will have a different sound than her others. It features the soft, gentle vocals we’ve grown to expect from Billie while also giving us moments of power and passion. Not only is it gorgeous, but it also introduces the themes of the album (falling in and out of love and the negatives of celebrity status) subtly and effectively. The song ends with some gorgeous strings that act as an overture for the album. Put more strings in pop music, please! They’re so nice to listen to! As a whole, this song feels like a modern quarter-life crisis, and, as a 20-year-old, I am here for it.
“LUNCH”
Picture this: you’re the main character in a mid-2000s movie. You are STRUTTING through The CityTM. This song plays in the background. But wait! The song stops when you take out your iPod Shuffle and hit pause. That’s right — it was playing through your earbuds the whole time. Legendary. Anyway, I’m obsessed with this song. The transition from the gentleness and emotion of “SKINNY” to this campy bop with a heavy, groovy bassline gives me mental whiplash in the best way. During summer break, I would drive around while blasting this song (responsibly) through the speakers. It was wonderful. And the breathing at the end of the song? Wow. Also, yay queer pop! It’s really cool to see more huge, mainstream artists being openly and proudly queer in their music. Billie knew what the people wanted, and she delivered.
“CHIHIRO”
This is the perfect song to listen to while driving at night. The synth is awesome and adds a nice level of drama. There’s a heavy bassline that beautifully contrasts with the gentleness of Billie’s voice, especially when she sings higher notes. I’m also obsessed with how the instrumentals sound a little muffled, like they’re playing in the next room. The mixing of this song used to bother me because it sounded like her vocals were buried under the instrumentals, and it was annoying to have to strain just to hear her voice. However, I’m now listening to it through headphones and I can actually hear her singing (life hack!), so I rescind my qualm. This song also gets bonus points for referencing “Spirited Away.”
“BIRDS OF A FEATHER”
I didn’t like this song the first time I heard it, and I blame that on my stubborn habit of being an obnoxious musical contrarian. It was one of THE songs of the summer, and for good reason: it’s a certified banger. It’s upbeat, beachy, happy, and romantic. The lyrics are a little cheesy, but in a non-cringey way that makes me want to lay in bed and doodle hearts in a notebook and kick my feet. This seems to be the chillest song on the album (both sonically and lyrically), so it makes sense that it’s the most popular. It’s a definite classic that kids born post-2030 will find nostalgic and endearing.
“WILDFLOWER”
Oh my. I don’t have many regrets in life, but I certainly regret not listening to this song until now. Besties, why do we not talk about this song all the time? It’s so good. It’s powerful, it’s emotional, it’s a little sultry, and the chorus has some of the most gorgeous chords I’ve heard in any recent pop song. It has this amazing sitting-on-the-beach-at-sunset vibe (I think? I’m from the Midwest, so I don’t know what that vibe is) that is absolute perfection. This song crescendos so wonderfully, and I love that Billie has been showcasing her powerful vocals more and more recently. Buried throughout the song, we hear her singing some louder and shoutier lines that express the song’s intense emotion. I love sad songs, and this song is sad in the most gorgeous and passionate way possible.
“THE GREATEST”
I don’t have a lot to say about this song other than “Ouch,” “Ouch,” and “Ouch.” It is so delicate and vulnerable and beautiful and sad. I just want to hug this song. There’s a section towards the end that builds wonderfully, both in the instrumentals and in the vocals, which portrays the pain behind the song so well. And the drums? Yeah. Similarly to “WILDFLOWER,” this is a sad song that all the other sad songs are jealous of.
“L’AMOUR DE MA VIE”
I’m in love with her tone at the beginning of this song. It’s casual and rich and perfectly fits the vibe of the song. I want to eat it. The song as a whole (at least the first part) is super catchy and chill. As a singer, this is one I listen to and immediately throw in the shower-song repertoire. Thematically, this song fits perfectly after “THE GREATEST,” which helps with the overall cohesiveness of the album. Now, let’s talk about the genre shift. The first time I heard this shift I legitimately laughed out loud because it caught me off-guard. It’s so drastic and unexpected, and the synth combined with the super-autotuned vocals feels a little silly. It has a distinct Disney-channel-original-mixed-with-2000s-club sound that I don’t love, but still find oddly charming. I don’t understand why this genre shift happens, and it feels a little out of place, but the first half of the song is so good that I don’t really care.
“THE DINER”
This song is so creepy, both due to how it sounds and due to the lyrics clearly being written from a stalker’s point of view. Listening to it made me physically uncomfortable, so props to Billie for being able to convey that much scary energy in a song. The modernized old-school jazz vibe of the instrumentals, along with the reverb on the vocals, contributes to the haunting tone. It sounds like the background music for a heist movie. At the end, Billie whispers a phone number while sirens sound in the background, which is nothing short of nightmare-inducing. I don’t think I could bring myself to listen to it regularly since the lyrics are so scary.
“BITTERSUITE”
This might be my least favorite song from the album. I couldn’t tell you exactly why, but there wasn’t much in this song to latch onto. It felt underwhelming as a whole, especially when compared to the rest of the album. “BITTERSUITE” includes two genre shifts, which gives it a unique 3-act structure that I found intriguing (though not intriguing enough). Act 1 starts with a little “vmmmm” sound that reminds me of a Spotify ad, but in a fun way. The first thing I wrote when I heard Act 2 was that it sounded like Wii music, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but probably isn’t what Billie was going for. Act 3 has some synth and is a little spooky, which is cool. Overall, I can’t describe the vibe of this song; it just IS.
“BLUE”
This song is beautiful, but, similarly to “BITTERSUITE,” it’s not a song I’d listen to regularly. I love how this song has lyrics from the other songs on the album scattered throughout it. It’s a clever move by Billie, and since this is the last song on the album, it ties the record together nicely. There’s another genre shift in this song, which is cool in theory, but I’m a little tired of it since it’s done so many times throughout the album. I feel like she saw the success of her song “Happier Than Ever,” which has an iconic genre shift midway through, and decided to try it again. Unfortunately, the genre shifts in this album just aren’t as effective and punchy as the ones in “Happier Than Ever,” and they fall short in comparison. I do think that the word “blue” is an overused metaphor for sadness, but it’s interesting that she also uses it to talk about someone literally being born blue (due to being oxygen-deprived). The song ends with a haunting string section, and I think it’s a perfect, bittersweet ending to the album.
I love this album. The synth and strings act as motifs that tie the album together, which is not only fun to listen to but makes the album sound cohesive. I like that Billie is experimenting with different genres, although I’m still unsure how I feel about the genre shifts partway through songs. It’s fun once or twice, but I got tired of it after a while. I think the album’s best songs are placed towards the beginning, so the album lost steam towards the end. However, I would still absolutely recommend this album to anyone who hasn’t listened to it yet.
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