Pitchfork: Happier Than Ever

[COOOK 76,406]

   7.6

"On her second album, Billie Eilish sings with unsparing honesty about her rapid ascent to stardom and all its accompanying horrors. It’s woozy, effortlessly melodic, and showcases her command over the pop landscape."
 

Spoiler

"The reality of a pop star is so inherently surreal that it often borders on fantasy, but Eilish’s music has never worn tiny, rose-tinted sunglasses: Her debut’s frank exploration of mental health, addiction, and self-harm had concerned parents wringing their hands while their children rejoiced at a pop star being weird and depressed just like them. Happier Than Ever is full of admissions, plainly sung, with very little left between the lines. The things Eilish knows now are stalkers roaming her neighborhood, lovers who need to sign nondisclosure agreements, and strangers poring over paparazzi shots of her body. She doesn’t pretend that these problems are relatable, but she does know that they are just more extreme versions of concerns that plague people young and old: anxiety about how people perceive you, a desire to leave your current life behind, a fear that nothing will ever be normal again."

"A more obvious hit will inevitably be “Oxytocin,” which places Eilish’s famous breathy whispers deep inside the walls of a dark, steamy club. The track starts off sultry, all body rolls, before it turns on a dime and launches itself out a window in a blitz of abrasive synths à la Crystal Castles or early Grimes. The title track, another clear highlight, escalates from a dainty and detached critique of an ex to an eruption of hellfire. “I don’t relate to you, no/’Cause I’d never treat me this shitty,” Eilish roars, multi-tracked over a barrage of blown-out guitars so you know she means it. The barbs grow sharper and sharper—the dude ignored her mom!—until she finally screams, “Just ****ing leave me alone.” "

"The emotional manipulation at the heart of “Your Power” makes Eilish’s choices a few songs later all the more rewarding. On the acoustic guitar closer, “Male Fantasy,” Eilish watches **** to try to distract herself from a breakup only to be confronted with a warped depiction of female pleasure. Bummed out but not defeated, she lets her mind wander until she reaches the wise conclusion: Very little in this world is as cut and dry as it might seem, even her feelings of heartache. Perhaps because so much of the album is bedeviled by forces beyond her control, the best points on Happier Than Ever are the ones like this, where Eilish asserts her agency and self-worth. “I didn’t change my number, I only changed who I believe in,” she saucily dishes early on in the album, a line that should spark a round of applause. “Know I’m supposed to be with someone,” she sings more pensively on “My Future.” “But aren’t I someone?”

Recall, for a minute, the 2020 Grammy Awards. Just before the Album of the Year award was announced, a flustered Eilish—who already had won an armful of statues that evening—mouthed the words, “Please don’t be me.” It was all so much, so fast; she wouldn’t mind one moment out of the spotlight. Happier Than Ever climbs down from the gilded world of fame to offer a candid report from the coming-of-age trenches, where the past is embarrassing, the future feels excruciatingly distant, and the present is simply exhausting. Eilish doesn’t pretend to have it all figured out. "

Full review here.

Previous scores:

  7.2

[littlepotter 75,151]

Why 2 weeks late 👁👄👁

[COOOK 76,406]

3 minutes ago, littlepotter said:

Why 2 weeks late 👁👄👁

It came on time, it's just nobody posted it here 

[Teletubby 151,029]

7,6 is not bad, Chromatica had 7,3
 

[Pennywise 36,079]

1 minute ago, COOOK said:

It came on time, it's just nobody posted it here 

because 

[COOOK 76,406]

.

[Glamourpuss 29,062]

18 minutes ago, COOOK said:

It came on time, it's just nobody posted it here 

Thanks for sharing it with us. I rely on you guys to post this stuff because I wouldn't go looking for it by myself.