Billie Eilish’s third studio album was released on Friday, May 17. The highly-anticipated album didn’t have any tracks released as singles prior to the drop of Hit Me Hard And Soft. Despite that, the award-winning, record-breaking musician kept her fans on their toes and teased details leading up to this day.

Eilish opened up about her sexuality and how she came to terms with being in love with girls for years. She showcases this in her second song, the raunchy, playful track, “LUNCH,” whose music video dropped as the first visuals accompanying the album release day.

HMHAS Highs and Lows

As a longtime fan of Billie Eilish since her 2017 EP don’t smile at me, this third studio album does have some gems, but it is not her best work. Her lyrics are mature at times, but some songs are too joyful that we are completely uninterested in that side of Billie and find it lacks the depth we are usually spoiled with.

Sorry to those who praise “LUNCH” and “BIRDS OF A FEATHER,” but it’s just not for me. I mean, I personally listen to Billie Eilish because she makes me feel deeply as her angelic voice lulls you into the despair she sings about. There are countless times that we cried as we sang along with “No Time To Die” “Happier Than Ever,” and “What Was I Made For?”

Now, we’re all about artistic growth, and the sound certainly sounds more layered and thought-out. She’s also using synths heavily throughout the album. Six of the 10-track album’s songs are over four minutes long. These songs either change tempo and mood, or both, and we just adore it when artists do this and give a twist and completely change the feeling of a song.

However, there are some songs that clearly seem to check off boxes that we think were made for the Gen Zers rather than us older fans (I’m a Millenial). I can’t possibly relate to superficial lines like: “I could buy her so much stuff. It’s a craving, not a crush.”

HMHAS World Tour

To support the release of her new album, Eilish will embark on her world tour. Starting in September, she will head over to Canada before starting her US dates. In October, Eilish will start out in Maryland, ending the US leg of the tour in California in December.

See the 5 Best Songs From Hit Me Hard And Soft Below:

• THE DINER

  The intro of this song immediately captivated us. We couldn’t help but feel like that start sounded like “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).” Her songwriting is super clever. Billie sings “THE DINER” from the perspective of a stalker. Having a stalker is a problem she’s been open about in the past, with having at least three. In track 8, Eilish reassures her crush, who she is clearly obsessed with, “Don’t be afraid of me, I’m what you need.” Being so young, Eilish includes lyrics talking about how she “waited on the corner till I saw the sitter leave,” noting the age gap between herself and how much older her stalkers were.

• 4. SKINNY

  For a pop star to be singing about their weight so openly and raw, we applaud Eilish. She calls out the public perception that equates being skinny as being happy, which, as she points out in her lyrics, doesn’t mean that at all. Despite that silly perception, Eilish finds “the old me is still me and maybe the real me. And I think she’s pretty.” Now that she’s a 20-something, Eilish questions if maybe she’s losing her touch as an artist. This is something that she’s expressed before she wrote the Barbie award-winning, record-breaking song, “What Was I Made For?” In “SKINNY,” Eilish asks, “Am I already on the way out?”

• 3. WILDFLOWER

  In this acoustic track, Eilish slows things down after the more uplifting “BIRDS OF A FEATHER.” What we enjoy most about the young, talented musician is the way she can sing about the saddest, most heartbreaking things. For a 22-year-old, Eilish sings in track 5, “WILDFLOWER,” about her female lover that she is haunted by “like a fever, like I’m burning alive like a sign.” She sings the melancholy line: “Well, good things don’t last, and life moves so fast.”

• 2. BLUE

  Combining the previous nine songs in this beautifully put together mashup, “BLUE” layers Eilish’s voice as she sings lines from songs overlapping. As fans theorized, “BLUE” features lines from “True Blue,” a song that she has performed on tour but never released. She sings, “And I’m still so blue. True blue, true blue. I’m true blue.” As the song slows down and simplifies the instrumentation, Eilish’s voice stands out as the next lines come out: “You were born bluer than a butterfly, beautiful and so deprived of oxygen. Colder than your father’s eyes, he never learned to sympathize with anyone. I don’t blame you, but I can’t change you.”

• 1. CHIHIRO

  Track three on HMHAS is this feel-good song, in instrumentation only. The song both feels chill and soothing, and by the time she sings, “Open up the door, can you open up the door,” we are on our feet grooving along to the 5-minute track. After someone tells her it’s war, she coolly says, “I hope it’s not for sure, can you open up the door?” Her confidence and nonchalance is something we applaud her for and hope she never loses that.

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