Billie Eilish keeps it unpredictable with her newest album “Happier Than Ever.”

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TOP 5 SONGS

5. Getting Older

This song came for my throat. When I started the album, I thought it kinda dragged for the opening song.

Don’t get me wrong, “Getting Older” is a great song, I just thought it was weird to pick such a slow song to get us started. However, after listening to the whole album, I would pick no other song as an introduction. From the lyrics to the production, “Getting Older” is the perfect setup for “Happier Than Ever.”

4. GOLDWING

“GOLDWING” is a perfect example of how Billie Eilish continues to break expectations as this song starts with a freaking church hymn.

Eilish’s voice is nothing short of angelic in the choir-Esque opening before the beat drops for the song’s second half. I would say that the beat of the second half of this 2 minute and 13-second track is most akin to the sound of her first album, though she still keeps things unique. Also, maybe this is just me, but this song makes me want a Billie Eilish/Tyler the Creator collab.

3. Oxytocin

I don’t know what it is with Billie Eilish and songs named after drugs, but the beat of this song feels like a drug in the best way.

“Oxycotin” stands out even more as it follows the smooth track, “My Future,” which seems to be a theme on the album of putting soft tracks right before a track with a beat that goes hard or an opening that will shock you (looking at you “I Didn’t Change My Number”).

2. Happier Than Ever

We get another song with a shift halfway through and it is amazing!

“Happier Than Ever” is just shy of five minutes long. The first three minutes are acoustic with Billie singing quietly about her ex and how she misses them up until the chorus where she admits that without them she’s “happier than ever.” Eventually, the song shifts into similar energy as Olivia Rodrigo’s “good 4 u.” The shift was so unexpected but good. Definitely one of the best moments on the album for me.

1. My Future

 “My Future” is one of the songs that were dropped before the album and I loved it then and I love it now.

The slow, almost jazzy love song to her future self as she goes through a hard time feels like the perfect song to show just how Billie Eilish has grown since she released her last album. We still get to see her roots from “Ocean Eyes.”

TRACK BY TRACK BREAKDOWN

1. Getting Older (5/5)

2. I Didn’t Change My Number (5/5)

3. Billie Bossa Nova (4/5)

4. My future (5/5)

5. Oxytocin (5/5)

6. GOLDWING (5/5)

7. Lost Cause (5/5)

8 Halley’s Comet (4/5)

9 Not My Responsibility (4/5)

10 OverHeated (4/5)

11 Everybody Dies (5/5)

12 Your Power (4/5) 

13 NDA (5/5)

14 Therefore I Am (5/5)

15 Happier Than Ever (5/5)

16 Male Fantasy (4/5)

RGM RATING

(A)

Billie Eilish once again drops a stellar album that is unlike anything you’ve ever heard before. Also, every track is fire. However, that’s about where the similarities between her two albums end. Every song has that classic Billie sound. But rather than reshaping contemporary pop for everyone like in her first album, Eilish takes classic pop music trends and gives them a darker twist.

Billie and her brother, FINNEAS, work together to produce an album that takes the listener on a trip from the struggles of losing your passion to heartbreak to misogyny in the music industry.  This is a no-skip album and that is amazing because the variety of songs range from songs that have a more smooth, jazzy sound to more classic Billie Eilish to even spoken word… all on one album. The ability to put such a range of music on one album and it still be good is a true skill and Billie Eilish shows it off with this album. 

I fully believe the only album that will be able to compete with Happier Than Ever at the Grammy’s this year is Tyler the Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost and I am excited to see how that will go down. If you haven’t listened to Happier Than Ever yet, I highly suggest that you do. Also, Spotify has a cool set-up where you can listen to the album in different “modes” and that is hella fun.

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Keke Riley