EARMILK EARMILK
  • NEW MUSIC
    • DANCE
    • ELECTRONIC
    • EXPERIMENTAL
    • HIP-HOP
    • INDIE
    • POP
    • ROCK
  • INDUSTRY NEWS
    • DOCUMENTARIES
    • EVENTS
    • FASHION
    • LIFESTYLE
    • MUSIC GEAR
    • MUSIC INDUSTRY
    • TECHNOLOGY
  • OPINION
  • ALBUM REVIEWS
  • GEAR REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • FEATURES
    • FESTIVALS
    • EXCLUSIVES
    • LISTS
    • CONTESTS
    • Photo Journals
  • SERIES
    • Artist to Watch
    • Under The Crust
    • Flashback Friday
    • Suicide Sundaes
    • Daily 2%
    • The Club
    • Weekend Selector
    • Mashup Mondays
    • Artist Remixed
    • Wobble Wednesday
    • Night Rumours
    • Indie Sabbath
    • Straight No Chase
    • Straight From the Teet
  • Jobs
  • About EARMILK
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Submit Music
EARMILK EARMILK
EARMILK EARMILK
  • NEW MUSIC
    • DANCE
    • ELECTRONIC
    • EXPERIMENTAL
    • HIP-HOP
    • INDIE
    • POP
    • ROCK
  • INDUSTRY NEWS
    • DOCUMENTARIES
    • EVENTS
    • FASHION
    • LIFESTYLE
    • MUSIC GEAR
    • MUSIC INDUSTRY
    • TECHNOLOGY
  • OPINION
  • ALBUM REVIEWS
  • GEAR REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • FEATURES
    • FESTIVALS
    • EXCLUSIVES
    • LISTS
    • CONTESTS
    • Photo Journals
  • SERIES
    • Artist to Watch
    • Under The Crust
    • Flashback Friday
    • Suicide Sundaes
    • Daily 2%
    • The Club
    • Weekend Selector
    • Mashup Mondays
    • Artist Remixed
    • Wobble Wednesday
    • Night Rumours
    • Indie Sabbath
    • Straight No Chase
    • Straight From the Teet
  • Electronic
  • Indie
  • Pop
  • R&B

Billie Eilish releases lush debut EP "dont smile at me"

  • August 11, 2017
  • Tanis Smither
Total
0
Shares
0
0

Society is funny about teenagers. We are quick to judge and stereotype; we write them off as beings entirely consumed by hormones and emotion, devoid of rational or introspective thought. Often we look at them as half-formed humans; not quite ready yet, still cooking. This is perhaps the reason we are so alarmed when a teenager comes along and offers us especially relevant insight into teen-hood. Fifteen-year-old Billie Eilish is that strange teen angel, watching from on high and providing commentary to her teenage experience with an almost unbelievable sophistication. Her debut EP dont smile at me is out today with Interscope Records and if you aren't paying attention yet, you should be.

Written by both Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell (who produces the EP and is nineteen – think about that while you read the rest of this review and possibly while you cook dinner tonight), dont smile at me speaks to every avenue of teenage experience with quiet brilliance. From hating yourself to hating everyone else, from falling in love to falling right out of it, Eilish doesn't preach but rather empathises, and her debut entirely does away with the shopworn notion that teens cannot intellectualise their own experience.

dont smile at me is obvious in its R&B and jazz influences. Both "idontwannabeyouanymore" and "my boy" are rife with R&B beats and odd chords coupled with Eilish's crystal clear vocal, which throws back to crooners like Frank Sinatra. It's the expert production that keeps it from sounding kitschy. Opening with "COPYCAT", Eilish and O'Connell set the soundscape: the electronics are lush and deep, the lyrics wildly clever, and Eilish's vocal floods your brain even as she sounds like she's whispering. In "COPYCAT" and "my boy", Eilish could be chatting to you over ice cream on a hot day in L.A. This is perhaps the most intriguing thing about don't smile at me; in one moment, she sings "my boy's being suss, he was shady enough" and in the next she's crooning "if 'I love you' was a promise, would you break it? If you're honest, tell the mirror what you know she's heard before: I don't wanna be you anymore" It is impossible not to marvel at the David Byrne-esque marriage between layman's terms and poetry in her songwriting. The uncontested highlight of the EP is "idontwannabeyouanymore". A delicate and poignant tune about being unhappy with your appearance and the way society dictates women's behaviour, it hits home for anybody who has been female and a teenager at one point in time – we all know what it feels like to wish you could slip into somebody, anybody else's skin. 

dont smile at me is a sophisticated debut for a remarkable woman, one that will no doubt solidify Eilish as a major player in the pop industry in the years to come. 

Connect with Billie Eilish: Spotify | Twitter | Instagram

 

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • billie eilish
  • EP
  • indie pop
  • New Music
  • New Music Friday
  • review
Tanis Smither

Constantly snacking. Canadian import based in Dublin. Indie editor.

Previous Article
  • Hip-Hop
  • Rap

Tha Vill$ide return with "Everyday Shit"

  • August 11, 2017
  • Rasheed Tulay
View Article
Next Article
  • Club Dance
  • Dance
  • Mainstage
  • Premiere

Sean Will & Dougie F team up for Reggae-Pop Debut "nLUV" [Premiere]

  • August 11, 2017
  • Rasheed Tulay
View Article
You May Also Like
View Article
  • Electronic
  • Indie
  • New Music

Buscabulla Returns With 'Te Fuiste'

  • May 23, 2025
View Article
  • Music Videos
  • R&B

Celebrate who you are with "Walk Yo Walk" by Brei Carter [Video]

  • May 23, 2025
View Article
  • Indie Pop
  • Singer/songwriter

“Back to Her” is Amelie Lucille’s beautifully haunting coming-of-age ballad

  • May 23, 2025
View Article
  • Electronic

Gio and Austin Water's “Yeah3x” is the sonic escape you didn’t know you needed

  • May 23, 2025
View Article
  • Indie Pop
  • Mainstage
  • Pop

"Object of Desire" is manny moura’s anthem for the unseen

  • May 23, 2025
sunrise in jupiter
View Article
  • Alternative
  • Indie
  • Psychedelic

"It was messy, loud, and unfiltered just like the music" – Sunrise In Jupiter Discuss Music Eras, Their Live Show and New Music [Interview]

  • May 23, 2025
PIEN
View Article
  • Pop

PIEN crosses musical boundaries with Americana-tinged indie EP "According to Plan"

  • May 23, 2025
View Article
  • Alternative R&B
  • Mainstage

“Diamond Lane” is bat zoo's hazy, heartfelt drive through lost love [Video]

  • May 22, 2025
Popular Music
  • “Back to Her” is Amelie Lucille’s beautifully haunting coming-of-age ballad
    • May 23, 2025
  • Gio and Austin Water's “Yeah3x” is the sonic escape you didn’t know you needed
    • May 23, 2025
  • "Object of Desire" is manny moura’s anthem for the unseen
    • May 23, 2025
  • sunrise in jupiter
    "It was messy, loud, and unfiltered just like the music" – Sunrise In Jupiter Discuss Music Eras, Their Live Show and New Music [Interview]
    • May 23, 2025
  • PIEN
    PIEN crosses musical boundaries with Americana-tinged indie EP "According to Plan"
    • May 23, 2025
Recent Scoops
  • Matt Oakley is redefining country music with heart, soul and modernity
    • May 5, 2025
  • Texas’ Blacktop Mojo does rock music the way it should be done
    • April 29, 2025
  • Tha Rapper Haiti blends authentic style with musical passion
    • April 28, 2025
  • Glorybots redefines rock with latest album 'mad.end'
    • April 10, 2025
Community Voices
  • From Machismo To Mujeres: Women As The Face Of Reggaeton
    • July 14, 2022
  • Tyler the creator
    4 things I learned on the 'Call Me If You Get Lost' tour
    • March 31, 2022
  • 4 things every artist needs to think about in 2022
    • January 27, 2022
  • The TikTok Takeover of Hip-Hop
    • January 11, 2022

EARMILK EARMILK
  • Jobs
  • About EARMILK
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Submit Music
All Milk. No Duds.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.