Today’s edition of Babe Sounds – Sounds For Babes, is dedicated to the incendiary Billie Eilish.
The world is awash with new young indie-electro-pop artists, no shortage of talent or new ideas, but with such oversaturation in the market it’s hard to grab your audiences attention long enough to become a mainstay. At fifteen years old, it’s easy to slot Billie into the category of ‘will be great’ or ‘shows much potential’ – both of which are true, but diminish the strength of her current body of work. The magnitude of talent here demands Billie Eilish be treated as a fully-formed artist.
TRACK ONE: ‘BELLYACHE’
On ‘Bellyache‘, Billie Eilish stands out from the crowd with playfully demented lyrics that command the listener pause and pay attention. Painted lyrically here as perhaps the long lost love-child of Patrick Bateman – a stylish and social, blood lusting, psychopath. She’s killed all her friends, amused by the fact she’s too young to go jail for her crimes, dancing as she pulls a wagon full of cash down a deserted highway. A potential nod to the Pixies timeless ‘Where Is My Mind’ in the songs bridge asserts that our young starlet knows exactly what she’s doing, has been educated by the necessary musical greats, and as such has some most exciting influences to pull from. An energetic, pulsing bass beat accompanied by tasteful layering of an acoustic guitar and tickling drums makes this single present as completely evolved and current, both stylistically and musically.
TRACK TWO: ‘OCEAN EYES’
‘Ocean Eyes’ takes a more melancholic approach, proving Billie has more to offer than lyrical shock-tactics. This sparse, beautiful track, showcases the young musician’s stunning vocal talents. Written originally for her dance teacher, the song is fluid and rich sonically. Rewardingly enough, there’s a dance performance music video to accompany ‘Ocean Eyes’, which proves Billie Eilish to be a performer right down to her bones; just as hypnotizing as a dancer as she is as a musician.