Hit Me Hard and Soft

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Hit Me Hard and Soft
Studio album by
Billie Eilish
ReleasedMay 17, 2024 (2024-05-17)
Length43:45
Label
ProducerFinneas O'Connell
Billie Eilish chronology
Guitar Songs
(2022) 		Hit Me Hard and Soft
(2024)

Hit Me Hard and Soft is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish, released on May 17, 2024, through Darkroom and Interscope Records. Eilish announced the album on April 8, after teasing the project on billboards in various locations. She later went on to announce a world tour.

Background and recording[edit]

Eilish co-wrote and recorded her second studio album, Happier Than Ever, at her brother Finneas O'Connell's home recording studio, located in the basement of his Los Angeles residence.[1] In weekly schedules, recording took place between April 2020 and February 2021, with the final track listing being worked by the duo during the album's creation.[2][3] Happier Than Ever was released on July 30, 2021;[4] it was met with critical acclaim and commercial success, topping the Billboard 200[5] and was nominated twice at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.[6] Eilish surprise-released her second extended play (EP) Guitar Songs in July 2022. The following year, she released "What Was I Made For?" for the soundtrack to the fantasy-comedy film Barbie (2023); she was inspired to write the song after seeing unfinished scenes of the film during its production.[7] For "What Was I Made For?", she won an Academy Award for Best Original Song and two Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Best Song Written for Visual Media.[8]

In December 2022, Eilish started formulating ideas for her third studio album with O'Connell.[9] In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, she mentioned that she hoped to start writing the album in 2023.[10] In December 2023, Eilish said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that the album was "almost done".[11] Three months later, she confirmed that the album had been mastered.[12]

Promotion[edit]

Various news articles reported billboards teasing snippets of lyrics for the album that appeared in multiple cities in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States in April 2024;[13] although it does not mention the artist's name, her signature "blohsh" was recognized.[14][a] The promotional billboards display cryptic lyrics, such as "She's the headlights I'm the deer" or "Did I cross the line?".[16] Eilish later changed her profile picture to a "blue circle" and shared another image with the caption saying "Do you know how to bend?".[17] Eilish added her followers to an Instagram feature that lets limited accounts see exclusive stories, called "Close Friends". The post features a "lo-fi" image showcasing the artist's hand,[18] and an image of her new midriff tattoo.[19] On April 29, 2024, Eilish announced the Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour in support of the album. The tour is set to start on September 29, 2024, at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Canada.[20]

A preview of "Chihiro" was featured in a Fortnite trailer revealing her second in-game outfit. It will also be available as a "Jam Track" to use in the Fortnite Festival mode, and a snippet of "Birds of a Feather" was featured in a promotional clip for the third season of the Netflix series Heartstopper.[21]

On May 15, 2024, Eilish held a listening party event for fans at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn premiering the album in its entirety.[22]

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic95/100[23]
Review scores
SourceRating
The Independent[24]
The Guardian[25]
NME[26]
The Telegraph[27]

On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to ratings from professional publications, Hit Me Hard and Soft received a weighted mean score of 95, based on four reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[23] In a five-star review, Helen Brown of The Independent praised how the album "whispers its way through a marvelous maze of music to deliver some big emotional wallops."[24] Neil McCormick from The Telegraph agreed in his own five-star assessment, opining that the "heartbreak masterpiece" is "rich, strange, smart, sad and wise enough" to stand in comparison with Joni Mitchell's Blue (1971).[27]

Writing for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis loved Hit Me Hard and Soft's "beautiful" melodies and "distinctive" lyrical touches, but wondered if some of its elements could be "a little too opaque" for its own good.[25] NME's Thomas Smith felt that although Eilish wrote the album for herself, she created a record that will "resonate harder" than anything she has done before.[26]

Track listing[edit]

All tracks are written by Billie Eilish O'Connell and Finneas O'Connell, and produced by Finneas.

Hit Me Hard and Soft track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Skinny"3:39
2."Lunch"2:59
3."Chihiro"5:03
4."Birds of a Feather"3:30
5."Wildflower"4:21
6."The Greatest"4:53
7."L'amour de ma vie"5:33
8."The Diner"3:06
9."Bittersuite"4:58
10."Blue"5:43
Total length:43:45

Release history[edit]

Hit Me Hard and Soft release history
Region Date Format Label Ref.
Various May 17, 2024

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ Collins, Hattie (May 12, 2021). "Everything you need to know about Billie Eilish's new album". Vogue. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on June 23, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  2. ^ Spanos, Brittany (June 17, 2021). "Billie Eilish and the Pursuit of Happiness". Rolling Stone. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  3. ^ Aswad, Jem (April 27, 2021). "Billie Eilish to drop new album, 'Happier Than Ever,' on July 30". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on April 27, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  4. ^ Jones, Damian (May 21, 2021). "Billie Eilish announces 'Happier Than Ever' 2022 world tour dates". New Musical Express. Archived from the original on June 4, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  5. ^ Caulfield, Keith (August 22, 2021). "Billie Eilish's 'Happier Than Ever' tops Billboard 200 Chart for third week". Billboard. Eldridge Industries. Archived from the original on August 25, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  6. ^ Cohn, Gabe (November 23, 2021). "Grammy Awards 2022: The Full List of Nominees". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 23, 2021. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  7. ^ Aniftos, Rania (September 29, 2022). "Billie Eilish shares self-directed video for 'Barbie' ballad 'What Was I Made For?'". Rolling Stone. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on October 3, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  8. ^ Grein, Paul (March 10, 2024). "Billie Eilish's 'Barbie' ballad becomes 10th song to win both Oscar & top songwriting Grammy: Full list". Billboard. Eldridge Industries. Archived from the original on April 5, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  9. ^ Robinson, Ellie (December 10, 2021). "Billie Eilish has already started writing her third album with brother Finneas". New Musical Express. Archived from the original on October 18, 2022. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  10. ^ DeSantis, Rachel (July 21, 2022). "Billie Eilish shares two-track release 'Guitar Songs': 'A little surprise'". People. Dotdash Meredith. Archived from the original on July 21, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
  11. ^ Martin, Annie (December 15, 2023). "Billie Eilish says new album is 'almost done'". United Press International. News World Communications. Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  12. ^ Avila, Daniela (February 21, 2024). "Billie Eilish reveals her upcoming third album is 'mastered'". People. Dotdash Meredith. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  13. ^ Jones, Damian (April 2, 2024). "Billie Eilish appears to tease new album on billboards around the world". New Musical Express. Archived from the original on April 3, 2024. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  14. ^ Aswed, Jem (April 2, 2024). "Billie Eilish billboards pop up, apparently teasing new album". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on April 3, 2024. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  15. ^ Maher, Dani; Sangster, Ella (April 2, 2024). "Billie Eilish teases third album with cryptic billboards around the globe". Harper's Bazaar. Hearst Magazines. Archived from the original on April 4, 2024. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  16. ^ Wang, Steffanee (April 2, 2024). "Billie Eilish just added a bunch of fans to her Instagram close friends". Nylon. Bustle Digital Group. Archived from the original on April 4, 2024. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  17. ^ Kelly, Dylan (April 4, 2024). "Billie Eilish is teasing her next album on her Instagram "close friends" story". Hypebeast. Archived from the original on April 4, 2024. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  18. ^ Rossignol, Derrick (April 4, 2024). "Billie Eilish has 110 million 'Close Friends,' at least according to Instagram, and followers are completely losing it". Uproxx. Warner Music Group. Archived from the original on April 4, 2024. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  19. ^ Bonner, Mehera (April 5, 2024). "Billie Eilish just revealed a giant new hip tattoo on her "close friends" Instagram". Cosmopolitan. Hearst Communications. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  20. ^ Harrison, Scoop (April 29, 2024). "Billie Eilish Announces "Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour"". Consequence. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  21. ^ Legaspi, Althea (May 13, 2024). "'Heartstopper' Trailer Teases Season Three and Billie Eilish's 'Birds of a Feather'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
  22. ^ Jones, Damian (May 16, 2024). "Watch Billie Eilish preview 'Hit Me Hard And Soft' at huge New York listening party". NME. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  23. ^ a b "Hit Me Hard and Soft by Billie Eilish". Metacritic. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  24. ^ a b Brown, Helen (May 16, 2024). "Billie Eilish review, Hit Me Hard and Soft: Softly whispers its way to big emotional wallops". The Independent. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  25. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (May 16, 2024). "Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft review – still the great outlier of American pop". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  26. ^ a b Smith, Thomas (May 16, 2024). "Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft review: bold, brilliant and somewhat brighter". NME. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  27. ^ a b McCormick, Neil (May 16, 2024). "Billie Eilish, Hit Me Hard and Soft: explicit, sapphic and her best work yet". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved May 16, 2024.

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ The "blohsh" symbol is a gender-neutral "stick figure person slanting to the left" design used by Eilish since 2016.[15]
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