If you know me in any capacity as a music fan, you know that I have a soft spot for artists like Billie Eilish. Billie’s music career began back in 2017 when she released the hit song “Ocean Eyes”. In the 8 years since its release, she’s been on a rocket ship to the moon. 3 platinum albums, 2 oscars, 9 Grammys, 7 full length tours later, she’s one of the biggest artists in music.

Back in May she released her 3rd studio album “Hit Me Hard and Soft”. Without further ado, let’s take a deeper look at it. 

Her first album “When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go?” Was a smash hit. There’s no way around it. Her Second Album “Happier Than Ever” left a lot to be desired for me. I wasn’t a fan. 

With this album, it feels like Finneas (her brother and sole producer on this record) and Billie took the good parts of “Happier Than Ever” and combined them with the experiences of a more mature and more grown up version of Billie to make a really good project. 

The album starts with a song that feels like it could’ve been apart of either of her previous albums (but lands on this one nonetheless) with “Skinny”. This track tells the story of Billie’s growing relationship with herself and her body on the back of a very string and guitar heavy instrumental. “People Say I got Happy, Just Because I got Skinny, but the old me is still me and maybe the real me and I think she’s pretty”. 

We then take a very sharp turn with the track “Lunch” which is really a munch anthem. The entire chorus is a perfect example of this as she dives into this insatiable desire to be with their partner (in this case a woman). Some pop-rock is not what you would expect from an artist like Billie but it works. 

“Chihiro” is when the album starts to pick up speed and hit its stride. Sonically, this is one of my favorite tracks in recent memory. It felt like the lyrics took a backseat to the instrumentals. Another great thing they do on this record is the lyrics match the sound. Towards the middle and end, the tempo picks up, indicating a racing mind and panic as Billie sings “I don’t know, I don’t know why I called, I don’t know you at all”

Then comes the smash hit for the record “Birds of A Feather”. If you’re reading this you’ve likely heard it, so I don’t need to break it down. I like it. 

We’re then hit with a gut wrenching one-two punch of breakup anthems with “Wildflower” and “The Greatest”. Both are stripped back, acoustic records that combine heavenly instrumentals with lyrics that make you want to sob. Wildflower offers a more retrospective view of a relationship from the standpoint of a bystander while The Greatest serves as a plea for Billie to just get what she’s putting into the relationship. 

To round out an overall solid middle of the album, we’re treated to “L’Amour De Ma Vie”. The first half of this record could’ve been its own standalone song. It’s lowkey, still stays on the overall theme of the record, and feels like a welcome change of pace. The second half is where my issues come in. Lyrically, it’s fine and not much better. Sonically is where I start to have issues. It’s not great.

After this the albums quality begins to fall off a cliff. Bittersuite has some solid instrumentals, but thats about it. The Diner and Blue are serviceable at best. 

Overall this is a really solid 3rd album from Eilish. The highs are really high and the lows, aren’t really that low. I would’ve liked to see Billie and Finneas get a little more risky on the production side of things but overall really good album. 

Now given the fact that this album is nominated for a grammy, the question has to be asked. Can it take the award home?

With a combination of mainstream artist appeal and overall album quality, “Hit Me Hard and Soft” is a very strong contender. Although not a historic academy favorite, there is a very real possibility that Eilish walks out of February 2nd with that award in toe. 

Is it the strongest record from the field? Maybe. 2024 was a huge year for music and the majority of albums nominated are well deserving of taking home the award. Billie does have a very strong case but at the end of the day, it’s anyone’s guess.