Listening Booth: Billie Eilish explores the depths of beige on Happier Than Ever

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‘Happier Than Ever’ fully establishes Billie Eilish as one of her generation’s most significant alternative pop artists.

Score: 9.7/10

The melodies and vocals are uniformly great on Billie's second studio full-length album "Happier Than Ever". The 16-song set flows beautifully, carrying listeners on an emotional journey in which surprising musical twists and glittering barbie dolls of lyrical empowerment glow optimistic light on a long dark night of Billie's soul, which was dark on her debut studio album, "WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?".

Unlike her debut studio album, Happier Than Ever was created in quarantine and isolation with her longtime collaborator and brother, the alternative phenom FINNEAS. Left to their own devices, with no outside influences or collaborators, the pair have created an amazing second studio album heavy with ballads like "Halley's Comet", "Your Power" and "Male Fantasy". Even the Bossa Nova genre flows into an early percussion on "Billie Bossa Nova".

Packed with slow burns often blurring into each other, it’s a record to sit with and study - if you’ve got the time. It took a few listens for me to fully anticipate and admire the art of HTE. Listen out for the intricacies of FINNEAS’ production and take stock of the lessons Eilish shares with her lyrics. However, don't let its beige exterior fool you, beneath its surface each of these songs carries a story with heart.

Having already undergone many transformations, Eilish's career can still be considered relatively short. Lest we forget the soothing calm of her pensive 2017 EP “dont smile at me” transitioning swiftly into the muffled distortion of her biggest hit, 2019's “bad guy”, as she evolved into pop’s antihero.

On Happier Than Ever, the tempo never quite reaches fever pitch; instead, Eilish is content with the tranquillity of tried and tested methods - tentatively pushing boundaries, rather than cranking the distortion up to 10. There are of course moments where Eilish pulls it out of the bag, but where WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? felt entirely singular, Happier Than Ever doesn’t feel nearly as unique in its frustration and awkwardness. It has sense and it really brings those sparks in her work that you weren't expecting but she executes them so beautifully in a way that feels understanding.

Underrated standouts include the early single "my future", the cold-and-characteristic curveball “GOLDWING”, and the eye-opening and elastic "Everyone Dies". The compositions are whisper-pop anthems that see flattering messages and manifestations. It sizzles where other more playful attempts try to fizz.

The drowning synth stabs of the opening track “Getting Older” is a familiar story for fans who have witnessed Eilish’s exponential adventure and journey on social media, readers of interviews, and viewers of content like her annual Vogue interviews or documentary film will attest, even her self-titled book released earlier this year. For the uninitiated, it’s a wake-up call and reminder of the realities so many artists face. Lyrics like "Things I once enjoyed, just keep me employed now" and "I'm getting older, I think I'm aging well, I wish someone had told me I'd be doing this by myself" bring Billie's self-awareness into the public eye.

The title track “Happier Than Ever” delivers the album’s biggest surprise by evolving from a sleepy ukulele ballad into an angry rage-fuelled rager like the Jagged Little Pill of Gen Z in those final two and half minutes are not only a highlight of the LP but a highlight of Eilish’s entire discography thus far. Proving that if they wanted to Eilish and FINNEAS could easily create the radio-ready hits that their contemporaries pump out, but they just don’t need to.

Whether they’re channeling disruption or embodying self-awareness or - in the case of Happier Than Ever - just making music for sheer enjoyment, Eilish’s loyal fans will surely follow. Eilish and FINNEAS are at the top of their genre, holding incredible power as they decide how to shape the future of alternative music. Will they dive further into genreless dystopia or opt to shake things up again?