At 22 years old, Billie Eilish has done more in her career than most artists could hope to do in their entire career. From her breakout viral hit “Ocean Eyes” in 2015 through her record-smashing 2019 debut album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?, Eilish has continually reshaped the pop landscape with her singular brand of introspective emo-pop.
With her brand-new studio album, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, finally here after three excruciatingly long years, Eilish is back again, ready to shake the world with her art. Of all the tracks on this album, which genuinely shows Billie’s further development as a songwriter and her gift for genre-blending experimentation, there’s one that’s stunning, romantic, and sad: the hypnotic, hauntingly beautiful “BIRDS OF A FEATHER”.
“BIRDS OF A FEATHER” finds Eilish in departure mode; its uptempo beat and sunshine production serve to be very much opposite to the darker and more introverted sounds of her previous work. This shift in sound is deliberate and conscious to come up with a relatable track and at the same time radio-friendly. The result is a song both addicting and emotionally complex, a summer anthem for the brokenhearted. “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” opens up with a minimalistic soundscape—just a basic synth line and a programmed drum beat—to create a dreamy feeling. This type of sonic restraint lets Billie take center stage with her vocals. She delivers tenderly as she describes an all-absorbing love, which borders on obsession.
The repeated phrase “I’ll love you ’til the day that I die” is just such an incredibly forceful statement of dedication, but it’s also laced with this undercurrent of darkness, that perhaps this love may devour her. In some way, light and dark just play off each other in a very fascinating way in the lyrics alone. Billie paints a picture of exhilarating, but at the same time terrifying, love, which could bring bliss or destruction. She sings about wanting to be with her lover “till I’m in the grave,” an image full of mortality that emphasizes just how strongly she feels. The title of the song is quite clever on this theme, “BIRDS OF A FEATHER,” alluding to the proverbial expression that like-minded people flock together.
In this respect, Billie is trying to say that she and her lover are so bound together in character that they are almost indistinguishable and inseparable, even in death.
It reaches its most extreme at its breathtaking climax. Escalating in the voice, one feels an impassioned belter from Eilish, swelling in intensity from repeated yells of “’til the day that I die.” It’s a breathtaking display of her powerful, skills—hitting new peaks while retaining a fragile nature. She channels heartbreaking anguish into a mesmerizing high note that lingers in the memory long after. No wonder she’s reportedly proud of this career-best moment.
Whereas “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” folds seamlessly into HIT ME HARD AND SOFT’s dreamy alt-pop sonic palette, it is, without a doubt, its most introspective work. Soul-baring is witnessed by Eilish for just over three haunting minutes, spinning a profound romantic narrative. This goes on to prove that less indeed is more; with only atmospheric hooks and heart-on-sleeve story-telling, Eilish makes pop magic. “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” confirms that even as her sound gets bigger in scale and ambition, her essence remains in the ability to distill grand emotions into such small, very intimate artistic moments. It’s her most starkly beautiful song yet.
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