REVIEW: Billie Eilish – “When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”

After months of teasing her new LP, Billie Eilish‘s highly anticipated debut album When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? has finally dropped.

The album’s concept touches on sleep, dreams and nightmares, and each track’s production successfully keeps up with those themes. Eilish’s gothic, lo-fi beats complement the nebulous, Gen X self-loathing of her lyricism: “The way I’m drinkin’ you down / Like I wanna drown, like I wanna end me.”

Her vocals remain eerily soothing no matter the pace of a given track. Tracks like “bad guy” and “bury a friend” sound like fast-paced fever dreams, likely influenced by Lorde’s dark pop styling. Tracks “8” and “listen before i go,” meanwhile, are sleepily harmonic. These two styles define what makes Eilish stand out in the oversaturated field of modern pop — they’re an example of the duality of existence as another 17-year-old teenager in America and as an upcoming worldwide artist. This duality is one of the core strengths of her music, and it serves to empower her creatively.

The track list itself comes out of the gate strong with blasting bass and quick tempo lyrics, but wraps up sleepily with its melancholic final four songs. I suggest you put on your headphones, close your eyes and allow Eilish to lead you into her dark dreamworld.

RATING: 7/10

FAVORITE TRACKS: “bad guy,” “all the good girls go to hell