It has been two years since Billie Eilish changed the Pop landscape with her debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go (WWAFAWDWG)? Many of her fans (including myself) were wondering when would Billie gift us another album. Since the release of her debut album, Eilish has been quite busy. She released “everything I wanted” in late 2019, “my future”, and “Therefore I Am” last year. At the Grammys, she won pretty much every award she was nominated for. On April 26th, Eilish took to Instagram to post a video featuring her new blonde hair with the caption “Happier Than Ever”. An unheard snippet played in the background of the video. The next day, she announced her new album Happier Than Ever. She then announced her next single would release Thursday morning.
Blonde Billie
When Billie Eilish released her debut album, she has the iconic black and green hair. Her hair became just as much a part of her image as her music. When you saw black and green, it became synonymous with Billie Eilish. Before she donned the iconic black and green, she had platinum hair. Now, before the release of her next project, Eilish has transformed yet again. This time, she has completely bleached her entire head blonde. It came as a shock to her fans when she posted herself on Instagram for the first time after bleaching her hair. Immediately after the picture was posted, we were entering a new era in Billie’s career.
Artists tend to change their appearance between albums. We’ve seen The Weeknd, Lil Uzi Vert, and Kanye West (to name a few) do it throughout the years. They tend to want to completely do away with the image they had for the previous album, so they change their entire wardrobe and appearance. West changed through clothing. While The Weeknd and Lil Uzi changed their hairstyles. As artists release more albums, fans begin separating periods in their careers as eras. Billie has already had three eras. Her Don’t Smile At Me era had the chains and platinum hair, the WWAFAWDWG era featured the black and green we are accustom to. And now Eilish has blonde hair for Happier Than Ever.
The Singles
When Billie Eilish first released my future last summer, it was impossible to know where Eilish was artistically headed. The music video featured an animated Eilish that feels like a call back to classic Studio Ghibli films. The song and video tell a story of a young woman coming into her own and looking forward to what the future has in store for her. When first hearing this song, it sounds like it will be a slow ballad-y track, but halfway through the song, we get a beat switch and it transforms into an upbeat song looking towards the future. This was the first song to deviate from the sound she crafted on her debut album. Then, when she released Therefore I Am, we got a song that sounds a little more in line with what we’ve heard before but it still featured a new sound.
On April 29th, Eilish released her third single from the upcoming album. It is titled Your Power. It deviates from anything we’ve heard from Eilish as well. Instead of the dark electropop sound she usually employs, she opted for an acoustic track with stripped-down vocals. The song is honest, vulnerable, and beautiful. Fans have begun deciphering some of the lyrics and think that they are targeted at someone in Billie’s life and their relationship has gone sour. Eilish says things like, “How dare you? And how could you? Will you only feel bad when they find out?” Many believe these lines are targeted at Eilish’s ex-boyfriend who appeared in her documentary. This single is the clearest peek fans have gotten in the life of Eilish. Along with the single, Eilish also released a music video.
Happier Than Ever
Billie Eilish proves yet again that she can subvert our expectations. With every one of her singles, we expect one thing, and she delivers something completely different. She did it with my future, Therefore I Am, and now she’s done it again with Your Power. What Billie and Finneas did with one album, many artists can’t achieve in a lifetime. Billie Eilish is one of the few artists that convey their emotions with such clarity that it resonates with an entire generation. Eilish has set off on a new chapter within her journey, and she has graciously allowed us to tag along. With the release of Happier Than Ever, we are not only seeing Billie Eilish transform as an artist, we are seeing her change as a person. Change may mark the unknown, but if Eilish’s recent efforts are any indications, fans will be happier than ever.
