Integrating genre after genre into a primordial soup of teenage emotion, Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go, is the most authentic pop album I’ve heard since Lorde’s Melodrama.
On her debut album, the 17-year-old SoundCloud prodigy glides effortlessly over instrumental gems, crafted by her older brother FINNEAS, in perfect symbiosis.
From the opening number, Eilish dives deep into her self-identity and openly declares herself, and the youth she represents, the “bad guy;” a generation lost in addiction and self medication that Eilish never shames, but healthily objects to, proclaiming, “I don’t need a Xanny to feel better.”
The intense variety of sounds, which range from hip-hop and electronic to ambient pop with folk and punk undertones, guide the listener on a sonic voyage with dancing bodies and tear filled eyes.
On the EDM flavored standout, “you should see me in a crown,” we find Eilish in her most comfortable space. This cut is the finest mix of what this album is made of: Introspective lyrical verses that reflects how she feels about the world, mental health, relationships and the complexity of being a human being; tangled with high energy choruses that will echo in your inner ear long after you have swiped out of your chosen streaming service.
Eilish’s airy vocal chords are stretched to their most sweet limits on cuts like “when the party’s over” and “8,” on which she seemingly converses with a heartbroken 8-year-old version of herself whose been pushed aside.
The depth of this album could be very easily missed if you’re blinded by the amazing production and Eilish’s raw charisma.
If Billie Eilish’s debut album tells us anything, it’s that, at 17 years old, she is already of the most masterful pins in music today. And with her brother producing banger after banger, she is bound for a long and fruitful career in music.
Score: 💊💊💊💊💊/5
North Carolina native Kerry Blu is a rapper, actor, columnist and teacher living in Brooklyn, NY. In 2014 he founded the Empire State Music & Arts Festival; an annual multi-genre music celebration that takes place in NYC, where he continues to help build platforms for independent artists and entrepreneurs.