Billie Eilish Returns With Something Altogether Weirder
In this particular case, "weirder" comes in the form of a nice, plinky bit of whisper-singing about love lost, using porn as a distraction, and also, therapy
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Sure, Madame Eyelash: The last track on Billie Eilish’s latest, Happier Than Ever, is a nice, plinky bit of whisper-singing about love lost, using porn as a distraction (bad idea), and also, therapy. It’s a marked departure from her first album, which I think is part of her intention. As sad songs for crying go, it’s up there, man! In the right mood, with the sun either shining or not, depending on your preference, “Male Fantasy” is good for weeping in public or in private, and a nice way to close out an album that sounds not much like her first. —Megan Reynolds
Well, it ain’t “Insatiable,” but okay: Prince, “When She Comes” – If the previously shelved Welcome 2 America were released around the time it was recorded in 2010, it likely would have made the impact that other Prince albums that came out around that time did. Which is to say: none! (Anyone up for a Lotusflow3r revisiting? Didn’t think so.) But because he’s dead and this is the first proper fully realized album to be unearthed from his vault, there’s some critical fanfare accompanying its Friday drop. I don’t think people would be as enthusiastic if Prince weren’t dead, but I also don’t think we would have heard it if he weren’t dead, so maybe we’re breaking even to some extent? In any event, there’s a funk-swallowing brightness to many of the uptempo songs on America that’s reminiscent of bands I’ve heard playing on the decks of restaurants on the water in South Jersey. The hooks, likewise, are sanded down. About the best thing on the LP is “When She Comes,” a sex jam not about coming around the mountain. It sports more evocative lyrics, a jazzier feel, and more urgency than the shorter version that was on what ended up being the last album Prince released when he was alive, 2015’s Hit n Run Phase Two. By the end, Prince had largely eradicated sexuality from his music, so this is a nice retrospective kick in the pants. —Rich Juzwiak
Well, it ain’t “Insatiable,” but okay: Prince, “When She Comes” – If the previously shelved Welcome 2 America were released around the time it was recorded in 2010, it likely would have made the impact that other Prince albums that came out around that time did. Which is to say: none! (Anyone up for a Lotusflow3r revisiting? Didn’t think so.) But because he’s dead and this is the first proper fully realized album to be unearthed from his vault, there’s some critical fanfare accompanying its Friday drop. I don’t think people would be as enthusiastic if Prince weren’t dead, but I also don’t think we would have heard it if he weren’t dead, so maybe we’re breaking even to some extent? In any event, there’s a funk-swallowing brightness to many of the uptempo songs on America that’s reminiscent of bands I’ve heard playing on the decks of restaurants on the water in South Jersey. The hooks, likewise, are sanded down. About the best thing on the LP is “When She Comes,” a sex jam not about coming around the mountain. It sports more evocative lyrics, a jazzier feel, and more urgency than the shorter version that was on what ended up being the last album Prince released when he was alive, 2015’s Hit n Run Phase Two. By the end, Prince had largely eradicated sexuality from his music, so this is a nice retrospective kick in the pants. —Rich Juzwiak