Billie Eilish’s Explorative and Reflective Nature on ‘HIT ME HARD AND SOFT’ Makes It Her Best Album Yet: Review

Billie Eilish officially releases her third studio album, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT.

Clocking in at approximately 45 minutes, the 10-track effort is once again produced in its entirety by her brother, FINNEAS, and follows 2021’s GRAMMY-nominated Happier Than Ever. While HIT ME HARD AND SOFT’s predecessor mainly centered on Eilish’s grip on teenage fame, her latest release dives into more personal issues — her sexuality and gender identity, body dysmorphia and emotional ups and downs with intimate partners.

The album’s opener, “SKINNY,” hears her softly croon about still loving the “old” and “real” her, before the public declared that she looks happy “Just because [she] got skinny.” The track’s soft, ethereal sound ends with an emotional string arrangement that slowly fades into the thumping electronic take of “LUNCH,” which focuses on a woman Eilish is almost fatally attracted to. She further explores the sonic space of techno and house music on the highlight “CHIHIRO” where both she and FINNEAS truly shine, while more traditional aspects of pop and/or soft rock are present on “BIRDS OF A FEATHER,” “WILDFLOWER,” “THE DINER,” “THE GREATEST,” the last of which ends as a full-blown rock symphony after starting off with subtle hand-plucked guitar strings.

A hint of loud synth-pop props up the five-minute cut “L’AMOUR E MA VIE” while the bossa nova-inspired track “BITTERSUITE” ends up enveloped in a dark synth instrumental. Eilish closes it out with “BLUE” — the longest song on the album at almost six minutes — and gives her early fans something to enjoy with its soft and brooding ending, while those listening for something new will thoroughly love the trip-hop production that cuts in about halfway through. HIT ME HARD AND SOFT is reflective and introspective, and its explorative nature could possibly make it Eilish’s best album so far.

Stream Billie Eilish’s HIT ME HARD AND SOFT on Spotify and Apple Music.