Music Review: Billie Eilish- When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?: The Debut We All Have Been Waiting For
We have the official debut album from the pop icon Billie Eilish called When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? This is her second project to be released after her first project, technically called an EP, went live in 2017. I didn’t really hear much from her though until later last year when I finally listened to the song “when the party’s over” which I thought was a well-crafted song in which Billie was able to sing over minimalist production that did just enough to bring the song to a higher level, but didn’t do anything to overshadow her sad and soft voice. The more I listened to this song, the more her voice and lyrics positively got to me. Then I heard the song “When I Was Older” which I thought was a great song and showed to me that she could be very versatile over different styles of beats and production. I didn’t listen to the other teaser tracks leading to this album, however, mainly just for lack of time, but I heard some great things about them, so I was pretty excited to listen to these songs and how they fit within this album along with the other songs.
This album contains some great aspects throughout this 14 track project. The production from Billie’s brother FINEAS, are great throughout. The beats and rhythms throughout always have something from song to song that makes what you’re listening to enjoyable. Most of the songs on this album have this slightly dark aspect to it. Instead, it is the production put onto the instrumentation or the ambient synths that add to the moodiness that the album has a theme of. Billie’s soft vocal delivery never fails to bring a feeling of sadness to tracks that are the gloomiest such as the tracks “when the party is over” and “listen before i go.” For the songs that are not necessarily gloomy sounding her voice still seems to find a place of fulfillment.
When it comes to the lyrics, I think that Billie and her brother both have done a pretty good job on this album. The song “wish you were gay” I think is a pretty clever way of looking at rejection, and I think it was very cool that they have this theme of number usage that they use to bring the point across. “listen before I go” is a track that I’m not going to lie has me concerned for Billie’s wellbeing. The lyrics are about telling her lover that she is going to commit suicide and that he better hurry up if he ever wants to see her again. She goes on to talk about how she’s sorry to everyone around her for what she’s about to do. With the unfortunate suicides that have happened to artists in the past few years, I can’t help but feel legitimately worried about her, just like I did after hearing Earl Sweatshirt’s latest album, Some Rap Songs. Hopefully, she is ok and if not can find help for her problems. As the quality of lyrics go this song hits the theme of suicide hard and should not be forgotten.
Once in a while on this album though you will find some songs that are underwhelming such as the track “8” which is just weak all around. The lyrics, singing, and beat overall doesn’t feel right with each other. Maybe something stylistically could be changed in one of these departments to make it better, but I think that may be going back to the drawing board on this one would have been beneficial. “all the good girls go to hell” is a slightly better track but the beat seems a lot more cheerful then it should be compared to the rest of the album. It Feels out of place.
For the highlights on this album, I will start with the track “you should see me in a crown” which is the most banger-like song on this album. It features the most high octane chorus on the album with this excellent beat and thick bass. The production has a lot going on with it which I like a lot. “when the party’s over” is another big highlight for me on this album. Once again I love her voice on this track and the trace amounts of instrumentation and light production. “xanny” is a track that has very soft verses but heavy bass choruses that contrast from the verses nicely. “listen before i go” is definitely a dark track but still a fantastic track at the same time. “bad guy” is a bass-heavy track that starts this whole thing off that sounds great. There’s a beat change where the beat changes into a dark sounding trap beat which is fun to listen to.
Overall, I believe that this is an excellent debut for Billie. She is showing strength in songwriting that many artists in the pop scene today aren’t doing. Her fame after this album is only going to increase, and I can’t wait to hear what she will do next. Still, though I can’t help but feel some concern for her well-being after listening to some of the tracks on this.
7.5/10
