![]() 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. Happier Than Ever is full of admissions, plainly sung, with very little left between the lines. 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. “Things I once enjoyed just keep me employed now,” she wearily croons on the album opener “Getting Older.” From the jump, there’s a palpable sense of longing for simpler times. On Happier Than Ever, the newly bleached-blonde 19-year-old sifts through the rubble of an ascent so life-altering and littered with landmines that her teenage idol, Justin Bieber, once broke down crying with worry for her. The tears that dampen Eilish’s cheeks on the cover suggest that the album’s title is more a dream than a reality. But their mother encouraged them to establish a casual writing routine at Finneas’ home studio-a nice upgrade from their previous workspace, Finneas’ childhood bedroom-and the songs that form Eilish’s second album, Happier Than Ever, naturally started taking shape. Eilish and Finneas-her brother, producer, and co-writer-hadn’t planned to make a record during quarantine. Unfortunately, “Not My Responsibility” played at only three concerts before the coronavirus outbreak canceled her tour and sent Eilish back home to Los Angeles. “So while I feel your stares, your disapproval or your sigh of relief,” she murmurs on “Not My Responsibility,” “If I lived by them, I’d never be able to move.” All Eilish could do was try her best not to let it get to her. Some members of the peanut gallery applauded what they saw as a feminist refusal to be sexualized, a “body positivity” narrative that often bordered on slut-shaming women who choose to dress differently. ![]() Specifically, her body, which Eilish often concealed beneath loud, oversized outfits. ![]() Since the release of her offbeat, gothy, Grammy-sweeping debut When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? one year prior, Eilish had become the media’s new favorite specimen to dissect. The shadowy four-minute clip shows Eilish slowly taking off her clothing and submerging into a slick pool of black goop, soundtracked by a spoken-word monologue about the body-shaming she faced as the most visible teenage girl on the planet. In March of 2020, Billie Eilish began incorporating a short film titled “ Not My Responsibility” into her concerts.
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