Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever - 2x LP Vinyl

black vinyl version - On her second album, Billie Eilish sings with unsparing honesty about her rapid ascent to stardom and all its accompanying horrors. It’s woozy, effortlessly melodic, and showcases her command over the pop landscape.

Eilish insists that not all of these songs are directly autobiographical, and it’s true that “Happier Than Ever” is not exactly a confessional. It is instead a record fixated on the tension between private and public knowledge, a social-media-era pop star’s meditation on how much candor — if any — she owes her audience.

Eilish and Finneas (who produced and, along with Eilish, co-wrote every song on the album) have moved away from the minimalist beats and hip-hop influence that enlivened “When We All Fall Asleep,” opting instead for a more backward-glancing sound that references trip-hop, bossa nova and even jazzy, 1950s vocalists. It’s hardly a safe bet. Eilish is clearly not interested in simply replicating the formula that made her debut album such a world-conquering smash — and the emotional turmoil chronicled in these post-fame songs perhaps suggest why. We’ve seen her in a crown, but in its most antagonistic moments, “Happier” feels like an abdication.