“Feeling really full of yourself or cocky”: Billie Eilish and Finneas’ Point-blank Confession About ‘Happier Than Ever’ Will Make You Never Look at the Album the Same Way
Singer-songwriter Billie Eilish, along with her brother and collaborator, producer Finneas O’Connell, are regarded as music geniuses. Eilish’s first studio album came out in 2019: When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, and debuted atop the US Billboard 200. The album became one of the best-selling albums at the time. The brother-sister duo later collaborated on James Bond’s theme song, No Time to Die, for which they won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2022.
Ellish and O’Connell then worked on her second studio album, 2021’s Happier Than Ever, which, upon its debut, reached the charts in 25 countries. Her single for 2023’s Barbie: What Was I Made For? earned her a second Academy Award, as she became the first person to win the Oscars two times. The singer and her brother are recognized for their exceptional music and are known as one of the most influential duos. The two of them recently opened up about her second album, and fans are surprised by the details.
Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell get candid about working on Happier Than Ever
Billie Eilish’s new album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, was recently released and is already dominating the charts. The album’s music has managed to impress the fans and critics despite having no previously released single. Eilish, along with her brother Finneas O’Connell, recently appeared for an interview with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe to promote her new album.
During the interview, the two of them touched upon the subject of 2021’s Happier Than Ever and revealed that they were in a heightened state of confidence with the second album. The young singer said,
I think for Happier Than Ever, we just didn’t put that much into it. That’s why there are 16 songs. Nobody needs that many songs. As much as it was coming from this place, ‘We’re so good, this sounds so good,’ it was also, at least for me, not knowing who I was.
Adding to the conversation, Finneas added that there are some things they are proud of from the album, but it was just two people who had just been told the nicest things and made songs, thinking they were good. He added,
It felt like it was kind of smelling sort of like feeling full of yourself or cocky.
Compared to her recently released album, Billie Eilish said that she felt sure about herself while working on Hit Me Hard and Soft. However, the duo was concerned about the response of the public while they were working on the album. However, according to Eilish, she is more comfortable with who she is, now.
Billie Eilish calls Hit Me Hard and Soft the most genuine thing
The singer appeared on Stephen Colbert’s The Late Night Show, where she performed her new song, Lunch, and called her latest album the most genuine thing she has made. She said to Colbert,
I think that Hit Me Hard and Soft, it’s like the first time since I’ve been an adult and maybe ever in my kind of creative life. It truly is the most genuine thing I’ve ever made. It feels very, very me, and it feels like all of the music is exactly like who I am, and all the visuals are exactly like who I am, and that’s honestly terrifying, and that’s why I’m shaking right now.
Talking about Happier Than Ever, Billie Eilish said that it’s an album that is a reaction from her when she is told that she cannot do something. She added that she really wanted to prove a point, and so she thinks that she went a little too far with her second album.
Eilish added that she at the time thought that it was very her, realizing later that she was just trying to be seen and express herself. She also commented on Lana Del Rey calling her the ‘voice of my generation’ at Coachella last month, and said the compliment was ridiculous. The 22-year-old said that in fact, it is Del Rey who is the voice of her generation, adding that she is one of the top three reasons why she is the artist that she is, concluding that she loves her a lot.
Hit Me Hard and Soft is now available to stream on Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music.
