Billie Eilish on ‘Hit Me Hard And Soft’: “The Most Genuine Thing I’ve Ever Made”

Billie Eilish has opened up about her latest album, ‘Hit Me Hard And Soft,’ calling it “the most genuine thing” she’s ever created. The 22-year-old singer shared her thoughts during an appearance on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ on May 21, describing the album as her most authentic work to date.

Eilish revealed that this album marks the first time in her career that she feels her music and visuals truly represent her. “With ‘Hit Me Hard And Soft’, it’s the first time since I’ve been an adult, and maybe ever in my creative life, that I feel the music and visuals are exactly who I am,” she said. “That’s honestly terrifying, which is why I’m literally shaking right now!”

Also Read: Billie Eilish Drops Isolated Vocal Version of New Album, ‘Hit Me Hard And Soft’

Reflecting on her journey, Eilish explained the success of her 2019 debut album, ‘When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?,’ left her feeling pigeonholed. This led her to overcompensate on her 2021 follow-up, ‘Happier Than Ever.’ While she now sees ‘Happier Than Ever’ as an attempt to prove a point to her listeners, she acknowledges that it was a necessary step in her artistic evolution.

“’Happier Than Ever’ was almost like a reaction of, ‘You can’t tell me what to do! I’m gonna do whatever I want and here it is!’” Eilish explained. “I needed to prove a point, and that’s what I needed to do at that time. But with ‘Hit Me Hard And Soft,’ it’s all about being truly myself.”

During her ‘Late Show’ appearance, Eilish also performed ‘Lunch,’ a track from the new album, and shared the lengths she went to for the album cover image. She described the process of being fully dressed, weighted down, and submerged in a 10-foot tub of water for the shot. “I didn’t have a nose plug, so I was basically waterboarding myself for like six hours,” she recounted.

Following the release of ‘Hit Me Hard And Soft,’ Eilish announced a major world tour for 2024 and 2025, with stops in the UK in July next year. Fans can find tickets for the US, UK, Europe, and Australia through the provided links.

-Gayathri J