“The 30th” by Billie Eilish, Saturday, August 12, 2023

I've talked about how my first impressions of Billie Eilish changed gradually. But to be fair to all of us skeptics before when we heard "bad guy," we didn't know what the career of the Gen-Z star would bring. What started out as slowed-hip-hop influenced sad-girl ballads and dark EDM bangers has turned into musical directions that no one can predict where she'll go next. In fact, following up her 2019 debut, WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? Eilish exchanged her dark aesthetic with a lighter, though somewhat eerie look on Happier Than Ever. Not only aesthetically but also musically Eilish's music hasn't returned to the goth like her debut album. 

WHAT IF IT HAPPENED TO YOU ON A DIFFERENT DAY? Following up Happier Than Ever, Eilish released a 2-song EP as a surprise in July of 2022 titled Guitar Songs. Many of the singer's songs had been synth or piano-based. Happier Than Ever started to drive the singer into organic sounds, even transforming Eilish into a jazz singer on tracks like "Billie Bossa Nova" and the title track. Guitar Songs furthers that vision with Billie's slow-tempo vocals and clean guitars. Lyrically, rather than the fictional scenarios, Eilish incorporated current events in the song "TV," a song which contrasts the public fascination with the Johnny Depp-Amanda Herd defamation trial and the apparent apathy public surrounding the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade. Today's song "The 30th" details the events of a car accident involving one of Eilish's best friends. Along with the guitar and the folk-song details, Eilish paints a picture about what could have happened if her friend had died. It's a gripping song for anyone who has ever worried about losing someone.

WHEN YOU'RE STARIN' INTO SPACE. From her second record, Happier Than Ever, Billie Eilish seems to be growing up into the musician that both connects with fans and critics. Even though her debut record was critically acclaimed, cleaning up the Grammy's in 2020, the teenage-goth act seems only to be one aspect of the artist. "The 30th" was the first song that Eilish wrote after Happier Than Ever, and Eilish said that "The 30th" and "TV" are part of her upcoming third record, but she felt that the message of the song, particularly "TV" was so timely that she had to release it even though the next record wasn't completed. The message of the song was too timely to miss the opportunity. Both songs and the ballad from Barbie, "What Was I Made For?"give us a slower, singer-songwriter-sounding Billie. With how quickly Eilish went from being a dark-pop star to a singer-songwriter sad girl, it seems like she's entering veteran artist status prematurely. Eilish's teenage goth aesthetic may have been just a phase for a Montessori-styled homeschooling and art-schooled daughter of actors who was encouraged by her parents to pursue her art freely. My question is, are we completely into Eilish as a serious artist or can we expect some more weird anytime soon?

Read “The 30th” by Billie Eilish on Genius.