What happens when you fall asleep: Billie Eilish’s new album to be released soon

BY ELENA VALDEZ

Singer and songwriter Billie Eilish is following up her hit 2017 EP “Don’t smile at me” with a full length, debut studio album in March of this year.

After opening up in an Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe about her struggle with depression and all that comes with it, she revealed she was in the process of releasing a new album. Her already released singles, “bury a friend,” “you should see me in a crown” and “when the party’s over” are said to be featured on the upcoming album.

Eilish is inspired by the things that haunt her. Taking inspiration from both the night terrors and sleep paralysis she experiences, she has curated a full-length studio album which is authentically hers.

“For me, in every song in the album there’s sleep paralysis,” Eilish said. “There’s night terrors, nightmares, lucid dreams.”

Eilish and her brother, Finneas O’Connell, have continued to work together to create the music being put out, claiming it’s like an unspoken understanding with each other. By being more vulnerable and opening up to the world about her own struggles, Eilish hopes to inspire her fans and reassure them that if they’re sad, that doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with them. She told Lowe that her depression had controlled everything in her life at one point, but now she is at a point where she feels okay enough to open up, and, in a sense, tighten the grip depression has on her, even if it is just a little bit.

Eilish is inspired by the things that haunt her.

“It’s different for some people and it’s okay,” Eilish said. “I feel like people are just so weird about it because people that aren’t neutrally unhappy don’t understand how it is because they’re like, ‘Well why are you unhappy all the time when you have da da da da?’”

From what is already released, this new album does seem darker than the previous, from the visuals to the overall sound. The music video for  “bury a friend” is still minimalistic but very contrasting, with Eilish in all white as her eyes bleed black. This shift to a more grotesque aesthetic coincides with what her album will be about— struggles. The new album art was also released and it maintains that same offputting vibe, where Eilish herself is leaning off of a plain white bed, her eyes without pupils or irises.

The 17-year-old singer started her career on SoundCloud, getting her big break with the release of “ocean eyes” in early 2017. Eilish has maintained a strong presence online and her music continues to draw listeners in.

Although no date is confirmed, the newest album will most definitely be released in late March of this year. Fans cannot wait to find out what happens when you fall asleep from Eilish’s perspective.

“I’ve been listening to Billie Eilish for a while now, I’ve loved her music since ‘ocean eyes,’” junior Brandaly Mora said. “Her new album is going to be great.”

Photo courtesy of MTV