On May 17th, Billie Eilish released her third album, Hit Me Hard and Soft to much fan speculation and anticipation. Eilish follows up her previous two critically acclaimed, grammy nominated albums Happier Than Ever and When We Fall Asleep Where Do We Go?. Hit Me Hard and Soft showcases Eilish’s unique, vulnerable approach to the standard “pop” album in partnership with her producer and brother FINNEAS.
“SKINNY”, the album’s opening song, gives off a similar vibe to Ellish’s previous album Happier Than Ever. In “SKINNY”, Eilish reflects on her insecurities, and throughout the track, expresses other themes such as falling in love for the first time and anxious thoughts about growing up. Following the intro, the album openly touches on the topic of falling in love with a woman, an exit from her previously male-centered songs. Although Eilish wanted the whole album to be released without any singles, leaked snippets of songs from the album led to tracks like “LUNCH” and “CHIHIRO” becoming extremely popular on TikTok, which in turn led to unintentional promotion for the album. “LUNCH”, which is the most commercially successful song off the album, currently ranking number 5 on Billboard’s 100 top hits. “LUNCH” provides the listener with Eilish’s signature hard-hitting beat and catchy, suggestive lyrics filled with double entendres such as: “I could eat that girl for lunch. Yeah, she dances on my tongue. Tastes like she might be the one.” and “You need a seat? I’ll volunteer. Now she’s smilin’ ear to ear. She’s the headlights, I’m the deer.”
“BIRDS OF A FEATHER” is a lighthearted melody that evokes feelings of past, love, nostalgia, and friendship, allowing the listener to reminisce about their own experiences with Eilish’s lyrics. The song deters from Eilish’s previous songs that deal with love wrapped in other—often darker—themes, and already, fans have taken to social media to share the important relationships in their own lives, posting pictures of friends, family, and partners to the song.
Overall Hit Me Hard and Soft hits all the right notes when exploring feelings of love, inadequacy and more. Eilish’s raw, brutally honest vocals, paired with the album’s effervescent production, mesh together to create a thorough and revealing piece of art.
Hardcore Billie Eilish fans believe that a second album is on the way. During the outro of “BLUE,” Eilish’s last song on the album, she added an Easter egg, teasing:, “But when can I hear the next one?” Some believe this connects to the ilomilo theory. This theory began when Eilish talked about playing ilomilo, a puzzle video game that features two characters: one red and one blue. On her previous album, the song “ilomilo” was the 11th song. Hit Me Hard And Soft, has a color scheme of blue and only has 10 songs, ending with “BLUE.” It left people questioning if the next possible album would have a color theme of red with more songs. Eilish has given a few other small hints on social media that have continued to leave fans on the edge of their seat, waiting for more.
