--- title: Billie Eilish's Happier Than Ever: 4 Takeaways description: The pop star's sophomore album sees her expanding her musical palette, mining personal trauma and exploring industry toxicity. canonical: https://time.com/6086022/billie-eilish-happier-than-ever/ author: Andrew R. Chow article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-07-30T20:21:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T10:11:05.626Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 4 Takeaways From Billie Eilish's New Album 'Happier Than Ever' og:description: The pop star's sophomore album sees her expanding her musical palette, mining personal trauma and exploring industry toxicity og:url: https://time.com/6086022/billie-eilish-happier-than-ever/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4857e5c9bd14cb68/698a1b7a656a3f0a4abdb7a0/GettyImages-1331408045.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Billie Eilish og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 4 Takeaways From Billie Eilish's New Album 'Happier Than Ever' twitter:description: The pop star's sophomore album sees her expanding her musical palette, mining personal trauma and exploring industry toxicity twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4857e5c9bd14cb68/698a1b7a656a3f0a4abdb7a0/GettyImages-1331408045.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 4 Takeaways From Billie Eilish's New Album _Happier Than Ever_ > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Andrew R. Chow](https://time.com/author/andrew-r-chow/)  ## Andrew R. Chow Correspondent Jul 30, 2021 8:21 PM UTC  Billie Eilish at the release party for her new album, "Happier Than Ever," presented with Spotify, in Los Angeles. Billie Eilish at the release party for her new album, "Happier Than Ever," presented with Spotify, in Los Angeles.Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Spotify  by [Andrew R. Chow](https://time.com/author/andrew-r-chow/)  ## Andrew R. Chow Correspondent Jul 30, 2021 8:21 PM UTC Last January, Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas responded with audible groans when their album, _When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?_, was awarded Album of the Year at the Grammys. “We didn’t make this album to win a Grammy… we didn’t think we would win anything ever,” Finneas, who produced the album, told the crowd in a [sheepish acceptance speech](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjJjMgdzGKQ). “We stand up here confused and grateful.” Eighteen months later, the pair has returned to a much bigger audience and much higher expectations, as Eilish’s sophomore album, _Happier Than Ever_, arrives on all streaming platforms. Eilish, at just 19, is one of the most adored pop stars in the world, a seven-time Grammy winner and the subject of her own [documentary](https://time.com/6077502/music-documentaries-summer-of-soul-sparks-brothers-mccartney/) ([_The World’s A Little Blurry_ ](https://time.com/5942336/billie-eilish-worlds-a-little-blurry-review/)on Apple TV). And in its first day, the 16-track _Happier Than Ever_ (Interscope) immediately shot to the top of Apple Music’s albums chart in the U.S. and many other countries; the album sees her expanding her musical palette, exploring personal trauma and abuses of power, and tweaking her unique fashion sensibilities. Here are the main takeaways from _Happier Than Ever_. ## **Eilish’s expanding musical palette includes crooners-era pop, electronica and pop-punk** Eilish’s music has long been difficult to place into a neat genre box; she and Finneas have drawn from Soundcloud rap production, Laurel Canyon folk harmonies and techno. _Happier Than Ever_ retains many of Eilish’s signature sounds—languid ballads, lingering, whispered syllables, dreamy synthesizer pads—while expanding outward into a disparate array of genres and eras. Eilish has talked about her love for jazz and pop torch ballad singers from the ‘50s and ‘60s like Julie London and Peggy Lee, and it’s not hard to hear their influence on songs like “Halley’s Comet” and “Everybody Dies.” The album also swerves into sonic pockets more suitable for the dance floor: the outro of “I Didn’t Change My Number” is nearly overwhelmed by an abrasive sawtooth bass, while “Oxytocin” recalls the dark twitchiness of [Britney Spears](https://time.com/6082333/britney-spears-legacy/)’ _Blackout_ era. And on the second half of the title track, Eilish and Finneas switch to a punk-pop setup, turning up tom-tom drums and electric guitars until they seize with feedback, while Eilish unleashes several guttural howls reminiscent of [Phoebe Bridgers](https://time.com/collection/time100-next-2021/5937672/phoebe-bridgers/)’ “I Know the End.” “I screamed my lungs out when we recorded this song. I’ve wanted to get those screams out for a long time,” Eilish said in a [Spotify](https://time.com/collection/time100-companies/5950004/spotify-innovators/) interview accompanying the album. > [](https://twitter.com/yelyahwilliams/status/1421140046309101573) ## **Her lyrics address male toxicity and beauty standards** As the teenage Eilish has navigated the music industry over the last four years, she has become increasingly vocal about the way in which young women are preyed upon and taken advantage of. “I don’t know one girl or woman who hasn’t had a weird experience, or a really bad experience,” she [told Vogue](https://www.vogue.co.uk/news/article/billie-eilish-vogue-interview) earlier this year. Many of the album’s lyrics touch on similar themes of vulnerability and abuse. “They’re gonna tell you what you wanna hear/ Then they’re gonna disappear/ Gonna claim you like a souvenir/ Just to sell you in a year,” she warns someone younger than herself on “Goldwing.” On “Your Power,” she addresses an abuser directly: “She said you were a hero/ You played the part/ But you ruined her in a year/ Don’t act like it was hard.” The album also includes “Not My Responsibility,” a short monologue from 2020 that addresses toxic beauty standards, the [male gaze](https://time.com/4253003/kim-kardashian-naked-selfie-critique/), and the paparazzi. After she released the monologue, Eilish was the subject of a [torrent of bodyshaming](https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a34373522/billie-eilish-bodyshamers-photo-response/) when a photo of her in a tank top went viral. Eilish addressed the sequence of events in the album commentary on Spotify, saying that the interlude was “some of my favorite words I’ve written, and I feel like nobody listened.” “I put it out and everyone was like, ‘Yas queen! Body positivity!’ And like three months later, there was a picture of me in a tank top and the whole internet was like, ‘FAT!’” she said, laughing. ## **Eilish sings about her personal life with startling candor** Eilish has said that while much of her previous music was based on characters, _Happier Than Ever_ is much more autobiographical; it deals with a breakup, abuse, identity crises, the perils of fame and losing any semblance of privacy. “I’ve had some trauma, did things I didn’t wanna/ Was too afraid to tell ya, but now, I think it’s time,” she sings on the opener, “Getting Older.” Eilish, as she is wont to do, laces these heavy topics with flippant humor: she laughs off needing therapy in “Male Fantasy” and recounts how legal documents have become a part of her love life on “NDA.” The album also recounts a breakup with some startling specificity. In the documentary _The World’s A Little Blurry_, footage captures Eilish with her previously-secret boyfriend, Brandon Adams, as they fall in love and ultimately fall out. One scene shows Eilish unhappily confronting Adams about driving home drunk—on the album’s title track, Eilish sings of an extremely similar situation: “You call me again, drunk in your Benz/ Drivin’ home under the influence/ You scared me to death but I’m wastin’ my breath/ ‘Cause you only listen to your f-ckin’ friends.” ## **The album marks a new era for Eilish’s fashion** When Eilish became a public figure a few years ago, her fashion sensibility was unmistakable: spiky chains; dichromatic green-black hair, oversized hoodies, homages to punk, goth and skateboarding styles. She has since tested many different looks, leaning into [eccentric haute couture](https://www.insider.com/billie-eilish-style-best-outfits-2020-2#at-the-2019-iheart-radio-music-awards-eilish-put-a-playful-spin-on-the-classic-all-black-look-2) and [pin-up throwbacks](https://www.vogue.co.uk/news/article/billie-eilish-vogue-interview). For this album’s rollout, she has chosen an elegant, muted approach in which she sports voluminous blonde hair, plush fabrics and lies across [Persian rugs](https://twitter.com/PopBase/status/1421011809432084482). It’s a marked shift from a previous era in which her chains were always audible in interviews—in which she ate spiders and talked about her penchant for [sucking on dirty jewelry](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YavL%5FIVSGV4). But while some may clamor for the old Billie, the look fits the album’s more refined sonic approach—and will likely be only one of many stylistic shifts by a young star in the process of building a durable and unpredictable career ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6086022/billie-eilish-happier-than-ever/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6086022/billie-eilish-happier-than-ever/"},"headline":"4 Takeaways From Billie Eilish's New Album Happier Than Ever","datePublished":"2021-07-30T20:21:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T10:11:05.626Z","description":"The pop star's sophomore album sees her expanding her musical palette, mining personal trauma and exploring industry toxicity","url":"https://time.com/6086022/billie-eilish-happier-than-ever/","keywords":["Music","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4857e5c9bd14cb68/698a1b7a656a3f0a4abdb7a0/GettyImages-1331408045.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Andrew R. 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