This wasn't supposed to be a controversial review.
I mean, regardless of the album's quality where I step in and somehow piss off everyone - that's expected - but even going into the conversation, there's already a backlash in full-swing against Billie Eilish and I've yet to pin down any place where it makes sense or isn't industrial grade stupid. She's been accused of being an industry plant - mostly by people who don't know what 'artist development' is because their Soundcloud waifus aren't getting it - along with people who find her "edgy" presentation a theatrical act that isn't scary and I really don't have the patience to watch a bunch of disaffected edgelords stroke their e-peens.
But I reckon it runs deeper than that, because if you just look at the music in context, it's hard to deny the quality. I'm not about to give Billie Eilish a pass because she's young, but there is a parallel to Lorde in presenting lyrics with interesting framing and haunted by wisdom and talent beyond her years. But where Lorde was dialing into raw intensity to amplify her pop, Billie Eilish was spiraling into a different direction, coaxed out by the darker sides of trap and Soundcloud rap and all the rest of the disposable music marketed at teenagers that seemed to have more going on. And Billie Eilish's desire to alienate and shock kind of amplifies preexisting antipathy from certain quarters that would have hated her regardless of quality: an act going dark and creepy with real subtlety and depth but without an obvious point of appeal in pop for guys in terms of sex appeal or immediate shock value, it's almost as if she's being positioned to appeal to an audience that's not them or something!
And make no mistake: it's working, and indeed, the slow growth and maturity of Billie Eilish's development by Darkroom and Interscope, guided by her cowriter Finneas deserves attention - its development that reflects a longer rollout and wells of potential and longevity many of her peers don't seem to have. And it's worth mentioning that Billie Eilish is still a relatively unique performer - she might have started in territory to close to Lana Del Rey and Lorde but the brand of creepypasta crossed with subtle slow-burns that's deliberately avoiding obvious sex appeal is rare in any genre, let alone pop and for a female performer. And once you start seeing things from that angle - and realize that the backlash towards anything teenage girls could like is tired and one of the most utterly petulant bitchfest gestures an opposing audience can bring - I was excited for this project; I've liked the majority of what Billie Eilish has released, and I wanted to see her stick the landing - so what did we get from WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?
