They’re consistently brilliant, sharp, funny – they elevate the already gorgeously constructed melodies into a miniature portrait of entire story, time and time again. That’s another thing we should discuss – the lyrics. Would you like me to be quiet? There are plenty of artists exploring the notions of what its like to a woman in this universe, but honestly, I don’t think anyone is working at this level. This is what it feels like to be judged constantly. Sound of the Underground it ain’t.Īnd then there’s the album’s mid point, a moment turns the question right at the listener on Not My Responsibility – do you know me? Really know me? Of course we don’t, despite her sharing herself right in front of us. I’m trying to imagine a pop album 10 or 20 years ago that could have a track like Everybody Dies, a song that genuinely explores the fear of death. She touches on this repeatedly in Goldwing and the angry, brilliant Your Power. On we go through lust ( Oxycontin), before we really get into the meet of the record – Eilish confronting the abuse that is endemic in the industry. A toxic (former?) relationship in I Didn’t Change My Number – which she returns to in the title track Happier Than Ever a secret new relationship on Billie Bossa Nova that’s then referenced again in the incredible NDA, then a beautiful act of self-love and hope in My Future (one of the highlights on the album for me). Was too afraid to tell ya, but now, I think it’s timeĪnd then she does. I’ve had some trauma, did things I didn’t wanna We kick off with Getting Older, a rumination on what she’s about to explore through the album – how she can see herself growing, where she’s finding self doubt, trying to process the things that have already happened to her – and then suddenly ending with the bullet of the last extraordinary couplet – Because each song is a perfect, self-contained composition that’s been crafted beautifully – but then sequenced on a record that takes us through a giant walk through Eilish’s life right now.
So why does this palette work so well on this record? Because it’s a journey. It’s hardly an upbeat album, but it certainly feels like a more mature and emotionally diverse offering than her first record, brilliant though her debut was by anyone’s standards. Songs tend to come in two flavours – the first is somewhere between synth ballad and pastoral folk (Getting Older, Billie Bossa Nova, Everybody Dies) and sultry, stripped-back grooves with a hint of darkness and even foreboding (I Didn’t Change My Number, Lost Cause, Oxycontin). What’s really interesting is what a rich, satisfying listen this is despite the aural palette of the album not really being that wide. I’ve tried to find flaws, but dammit, I’m having to look very hard. It’s also as tightly constructed as a piece of Swiss watch-making, and it has the best sequencing of any album I’ve heard this year. So if it’s not pop in the old-fashioned sense, then what is it? Well – Happier Than Ever is intimate, downbeat, incredibly personal, political, angry, frustrated, passionate, world-weary, poetic, sexy, goofy and funny. Not a single other musician plays on the entire album. The whole thing, from songwriting to production, was made by Eilish and her producer brother, Finneas.
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It’s not manufactured, there is no ‘persona’ that Eilish appears to hide behind, and the entire album is not written by a team of crack songwriters, with a list of producers as long as the tracklist. It’s the total antidote to those artists. Sure, it’s been heading that way for quite a while – but it’s certainly a long way from the Pussycat Dolls and Girls Aloud to this album. But what extraordinarily INTERESTING place pop music has gone in the last decade or so. You all know I’ll defend the P word to my death. Eilish is a pop star who makes pop music. But what is strange is what Happier Than Ever represents. Perhaps that’s not so strange – plenty of of pop stars have sung about life in the fast lane. This is an album about what that feels like. Her clothes, her love life, her age, her gender, her fanbase, her lyrics and her career in general have all been dissected over and over again by the press and also by her fans. Eilish is genuine, bona fide A list pop star – she sits alongside the Taylor Swifts and Lady Gagas at the top table. This album is currently or has been number one in over 20 countries.
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