When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? by Billie Eilish

From one young pop phenom at #13 to an even younger, even more popular phenom at #12, Billie Eilish and her stellar debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? I’m completely lost at where to start in this review, as there’s so much to say. Eilish, at only 18 as of this writing, has been releasing extremely-popular music since she was 14. “Ocean Eyes,” the song she released in 2016, has been played on YouTube 200 million times. Since then, Eilish, with her 22-year-old brother Finneas as producer, has been releasing hit after hit.

Her debut album, here at #12, is chockablock with ear worms. Falling on the indie-goth side of the pop spectrum, Eilish’s songs demonstrate a level of maturity and depth that even some 30-something artists can’t evoke. Her lyrics are full of metaphor and innuendo, painting the picture of someone who’s already lived a full life. Then you remember they’re the words of a (when written) 14, 15, or 16-year old home-schooled girl put to music she and her 18, 19, or 20-year old brother cooked up in Pro Tools in their small bedroom-based studios.

The amazing songs are only part of the equation. Even more outstanding is her command of the promotion and consumption of her music. For starters, look at the YouTube output for the songs on this album:

“lovely” with R&B artist Khalid, directed by Taylor Cohen and Matty Peacock
“you should see me in a crown” in both a Takeshi Murakami-directed animated version and a live-action vertical video version, directed by Eilish, that has her covered in live spiders
“when the party’s over” (shown above), a crazy-amazing song with a crazy-amazing video directed by Carlos López Estrada, who also directed Father John Misty’s fantastic video for “Mr. Tillman,” featured at #26 last year. Be sure to watch the behind-the-scenes from the Eilish video, too.
“bury a friend” which was directed by Michael Chaves
“bad guy” in both normal version, directed by Dave Meyers, in which she can be seen rolling around in a Takeshi Murakami smiley-flower outfit, and vertical version that shows the outtakes of the normal version
“all the good girls go to hell,” directed by Rich Lee, which starts with a clip also shown in “bury a friend” above and takes it in a completely different direction
and finally, “xanny,” directed by Eilish herself

That’s ten separate independently-produced videos for 50% of the songs on the album. As I put together this list, I’m often hard-pressed to find more than one, maybe two, videos per album. Outside of the music videos, Eilish has had long-standing relationship with Apple Music (culminating in a lovely long-form holiday commercial from last year). On top of that, Eilish has famously done an interview with Vanity Faire magazine three times, each a year apart, answering the same questions and reminiscing about where she’s come from and where she’s going. That is huge foresight by VF.

If you’ve only heard Eilish’s name, you must hear the music. Set aside all your preconceptions and just listen. You will not be disappointed.

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13. Cheap Queen by King Princess
14. Anima by Thom Yorke
15. Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Parts 1 + 2 by Foals
16. Gallipoli by Beirut
17. My Finest Work Yet by Andrew Bird
18. Four of Arrows by Great Grandpa
19. Designer by Aldous Harding
20. Norman Fucking Rockwell! by Lana Del Rey
21. Our Pathetic Age by DJ Shadow
22. Juice B Crypts by Battles
23. Pony by Orville Peck
24. Hyperspace by Beck
25. Eraserland by Strand of Oaks
26. Dogrel by Fontaines DC
27. You’re the Man by Marvin Gaye
28. Big Wows by Stealing Sheep
29. 1000 gecs by 100 gecs
30. In the Morse Code of Brake Lights by The New Pornographers
31. Radiant Dawn by Operators

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