Header Image by William Drumm
Billie Eilish released her third album “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT” on Friday, May 17th.
This album does not have a pre-release single, but consists of 10 newly recorded songs. It is a diverse yet cohesive work, like a movie, traveling through a vast audio landscape and immersing the listener in every emotion. Billie Eilish wants the album to be a “family of songs” and to be listened to consistently from beginning to end. In the run-up to the album’s release, album listening events were held in NY and LA, filling all 16,000 seats at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and 13,500 seats at the Kia Forum in LA, creating a buzz.
The physical format of the album will also be released in eco-friendly materials, minimizing waste and using recyclable materials wherever possible.
The official interview for the release of this work is posted below.
Billie Eilish Official Interview
–When did you start producing this album? Please tell us if you have any secrets behind the production.
I think we started working on the album around October 2022. But now that I think about it, I wrote the hook and lyrics for “BITTERSUITE” in August 2022, but I haven’t touched on it at all since then. Of course, I didn’t think that it would be good for anything or for this album.
I completed the album in January or February of this year, but I actually didn’t do much work on the album until May of last year. So I haven’t been working on it for that long.
As for the story behind the album… One that immediately comes to mind is that I have suffered from hypermobility syndrome since I was a child, and because of this I was constantly getting injured. Sometimes that was the cause, and sometimes it was a different cause. I previously injured my toe, but I had no idea what caused it, and it remained unhealed for about two years. Last May, I went to get a steroid injection in my toe and it was extremely painful. The people at the hospital said, “It’s definitely going to get better and it will heal,” but it didn’t heal like usual, and I couldn’t put any weight on that leg all day. I didn’t think it would hurt that much, so I woke up at 6 a.m. and drove an hour each way to the hospital. I couldn’t even drive, so it was just something I didn’t like.
And on top of that, my depression was intense that day, and everything was building up. I was sent to Finneas’ house to work on it, and I was sitting on the couch thinking, “I can’t believe I’m starting to make music.” But that was the day I wrote “THE GREATEST,” and thanks to that I was able to start writing the rest of the songs. Before that, nothing had taken shape, I had no plans or confidence. We were talking about it because we were feeling nervous and it was a really tough day and we didn’t feel like we could make music. Everything except the bridge was completed on that day, and the inspiration and concept for the album was also completed on that day.
–Please tell us about the song “LUNCH”.
I think it’s a really fun song. The moment we came up with the hook for this song, we both thought it would be a great song. I was confident that no matter what shape it ended up in, it would be a really good song. I don’t really understand it myself, but it’s a very pop song, which scared me a little at first. I’m also in the pop world, but I’ve always been hesitant to step into that world.
But I love this song, and I think the lyrics are clever, fun, and cool.
――Please tell us about the MV for “LUNCH”.
I think the MV is easy to understand. I wanted to create a piece that pays homage to the 90’s hip-hop music videos that I’ve loved since I was little. The camera used in old videos is used to express the atmosphere of the time. It’s just me dancing, but it’s fun and I love it.
As for the backstory, there’s a scene in the music video where they’re eating food, but they had to keep eating until they got a good take. I ate a whole sandwich, three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cookies, cherries, oranges, more cookies, strawberries, apples, orange juice, apple juice, chocolate milk, and so on all the time. . It may sound like fun, but it was actually the opposite. I wasn’t hungry so it was like spitting it out into a bucket without swallowing it. Glamorous, right?
–Please tell us about the theme and episode of the song “CHIHIRO”.
“CHIHIRO” is a Japanese female name. She’s one of my favorite songs, and I love the title of the song and what it means to me. She had a lot of fun working on the production with Finneas. I worked a lot of overtime while producing this song. It was one of the songs I started writing at the beginning, but it was also one that I continued to tweak until the end of the album production. I wasn’t completely satisfied until the end.
During the process of creating this song, I felt that “we can enjoy this song” and “it’s okay to do something different.” And I think this is a song that expresses Finneas & Billie’s typical style. I think the lyrics and the way I sing it really expresses my core and what people know about me, and the production is typical of Finneas, making it unique and interesting. I feel like this song gets better every time I listen to it.
――If you were to pick a song on the album that you have a special fondness for, what would it be?
“THE GREATEST”. Because like I said earlier, that’s why we were able to make the whole album. It’s a very special song to me, and I think it’s the core of the entire album. I can’t express it in words, but I really love it, and thanks to this song, I feel like I’ve finally been able to be honest.
I don’t think I was able to be honest before writing this song. I wasn’t being honest with myself, so I wasn’t being honest with my songs. With this song, I finally felt like I could forgive myself and think, “Ah, it’s okay to be honest now.” And I think that’s great.
–Please give a message to your Japanese fans.
I love you all. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone. I really can’t wait to go to Japan. I’ll see you soon.
【release information】
Billie Eilish “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT”
Release Date：2024.05.17 (Fri.)
Label: Darkroom / Interscope / Universal Music
Tracklist：
1. SKINNY
2. LUNCH
3. CHIHIRO
4. BIRDS OF A FEATHER
5. WILDFLOWER
6. THE GREATEST
7. L’AMOUR DE MA VIE
8. THE DINER
9. BITTERSUITE
10.BLUE
