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Happier than ever speaks professionalism. Billie Eilish: Critics say no fault in new album release, Happier Than Ever. Billie Eilish Critics praise ‘defiant’ second album, Happier Than Ever.
I also played the album and indeed it was faultless. Although Billie Eilish was so mute on the vocal stems.
Critics have praised Billie Eilish’s hotly-anticipated second album Happier Than Ever for its unflinching portrayal of life as a teenage pop megastar.
The follow-up to her 2019 debut When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, it addresses the pressures of fame, as well as weighty issues facing young women, including sexual coercion.
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Reviewers said the record is “defiant” despite its “muted” tone.
The Guardian’s Alexis Petridis gave the “universally great” album four stars.
He said that “on perhaps the most anticipated album of 2021, Eilish uses subdued yet powerful song writing to consider how fame has seeped into every corner of her life.
“Listening to a pop star complaining about being a pop star is usually enervating. It says something about Eilish’s skill as a song writer that, in her hands, the topic feels genuinely affecting.”
This is partly, he wrote, because despite her stratospheric success, Eilish continues to express her fears with relatable intimacy as pop’s anti-hero.
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Critics praise ‘defiant’ second album, Happier Than Ever
Musically, her trademark whispered vocal tones remain, but the album – produced in lockdown with her brother and collaborator Finneas – contains “lots of clever production touches”.
Despite being “less obviously ear-grabbing and immediate than its predecessor… the fact that it’s a lower-key album than her debut shouldn’t distract from Happier Than Ever’s quality”, Petridis concludes.
Similarly The Telegraph’s Neil McCormick gave a four-star review, noting that the record contains “surprising musical twists and glittering barbs of lyrical empowerment”.
He said “shimmering harmonies” combine to take the listener on an “emotional journey” that ultimately casts “optimistic light on a long dark night of Billie’s tortured soul”.
