Billie Eilish is known to reinvent the wheel. From songwriter, dance, performer to her acting debut in last year's TV show Swarm, it seems like not a stone is ever left unturned for the musical multi-hyphenate.
In the musical world of yore, it seems like a distant dream when she released her initial project dont smile at me in 2017. Playful and lucidly sweet, Eilish's first EP paved the way for many quirked up 17-year-olds (like myself) who fought tooth and nail in 2018 to catch a glimpse of the budding star in the fluorescent downstairs cage of General Pants Co. in Sydney's CBD.
Of course, there was When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? – the debut LP that catapulted her to a a Grammy Awards sweep that year. And following in its place was the mystically lovelorn sophomore album Happier than Ever, a pensive reflection on the status of Eilish's romantic life and fame.
Since then, the artist has cemented her sound as a consummate expert of her craft without ever losing that individualistic edge to her public persona. And for her third release Hit Me Hard and Soft, she's dropped all the soft-tinting of her last few releases for something a touch more somber. The visual teaser she released on social media last night transports viewers to a subterranean world of darkness – with Eilish submerged in blue, looking limpid to the touch.
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Since the announcement, the internet has been on the rampage for more details of the forthcoming 10-track album. So far, all we know is that the album due to drop on the 17th of May (and that Rolling Stone has been a tad trigger-happy in dropping the tracklist ahead of schedule). Twenty One Pilots is also slated to drop music on that very same Friday. We'll have to make sure our headphones are juiced up and ready to go.
But while we wait for more official announcements – and the Hit Me Hard and Soft songs themselves – it's time for RUSSH to assess the tempo of how the world (and Eilish) have been taking it all in. Here's what we've found...
Billie via her close friends Instagram story! 👀 pic.twitter.com/p7jL33p86l
— Billie Eilish Tours (@billieeilishtrs) April 8, 2024
how i’m feeling #HitMeHardAndSoft #BillieEilish pic.twitter.com/d5fmdVqpZT
— jaz HIT ME HARD AND SOFT!!!! (@wheresmymind444) April 8, 2024
billie eilish and twenty one pilots both releasing albums on may 17th pic.twitter.com/Fvna3WKvys
— leø ⊬ (@nevertakeitoday) April 8, 2024
Billie Eilish painting the splatter paint HIT ME HARD AND SOFT cds!
🔗: https://t.co/5km3iyK3rI pic.twitter.com/JGuF5KgxJs
— 🏁 (@concertleaks) April 8, 2024
Press release for Billie Eilish’s new album ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ describes the project:
“The album does exactly as the title suggests: hits you hard and soft both lyrically and sonically while bending genres and defying trends along the way.” pic.twitter.com/b1YEdhIVYI
— Pop Base (@PopBase) April 8, 2024
so billie eilish added everybody to her close friends... pic.twitter.com/oi90O5nxFb
— ❦ (@justInwuah) April 4, 2024
billie eilish for her new music video pic.twitter.com/dA7Memgn5y
— emy (@emysbill) April 8, 2024
billie eilish’s new album title and tracks is giving lana.
— ultraviolence (@iheartdelrey) April 8, 2024
🚨| Billie Eilish looks dazzling in the photoshoot of her new album🤩 pic.twitter.com/aD41DRoL86
— arda♡ (@halleyscomett0) April 8, 2024
“Billie Eilish posted a teaser-“
— nancy🦋 (@eilishminds) April 8, 2024
twenty one pilots, cage the elephant, billie eilish, joywave, and zayn on may 17th pic.twitter.com/ajEuePqaaE
— pay ✺ ⊬ 139 144 (@yelllowdashes) April 8, 2024
and we r readyyyyyy #BillieEilish pic.twitter.com/Z6T2jsjPVQ
— maddy (@eilishismother) April 8, 2024
WE ARE SO BACK! pic.twitter.com/OxAnVnPDXy
— Billie Eilish Tours (@billieeilishtrs) April 8, 2024