We’ve seen a lot of Billie Eilish in the past few years— she hasn’t left our radar at all since the 2016 release of breakout single “Ocean Eyes” (and subsequent debut EP, ‘Don’t Smile at Me’, which has sat in the Billboard Top 200 for more than a year and a half). That said, it might come as a surprise that she still hasn’t released an album. To date, the 17-year-old has released a collection of singles and one groundbreaking EP, yet a continuous work longer than eight tracks has been surprisingly unheard of. But that’s about to change, as Eilish is now preparing to release her debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, due out March 29 via Darkroom/Interscope.
Until then, we can get a feel for what the new album will sound like (and what feelings it will evoke) through the new single she’s shared, ‘bury a friend’, and the eerie album artwork posted on Instagram last night. The spooky single comes with a video you can watch below.
The haunting Michael Chaves-directed video is a bit of a horror show— it’s a peculiar, bracing montage that sees Eilish being grabbed by black-glove-clad hands, injected with strange substances, and generally roughed up as she sings about wanting to “end” herself. The video is equally as haunting as the album artwork itself, which features the same, seemingly possessed Eilish from the video, sitting on the bed in what looks like a darkened mental hospital. In both, Eilish takes on a disturbing persona, keying us in to the dark theme of the album.
“When we made ‘bury a friend,’ the whole album clicked in my head,” Billie explains. “I immediately knew what it was going to be about, what the visuals were going to be, and everything in terms of how I wanted it to be perceived. It inspired what the album is about. ‘bury a friend’ is literally from the perspective of the monster under my bed. If you put yourself in that mindset, what is this creature doing or feeling?” She continues. “I also confess that I’m this monster, because I’m my own worst enemy. I might be the monster under your bed too.”
It’s a fitting choice as the first single; as Billie herself said, the whole album is inspired by this track alone: the album title comes directly from the song’s chorus, where Eilish croons, “What do you want from me / Why don’t you run from me / What are you wondering / What do you know / Why aren’t you scared of me / Why do you care for me / When we all fall asleep, where do we go?” The twelve-track seems to get wilder as it goes on, as the character Eilish has created seems to descend further into the darkness.
Today’s new release comes after this month’s earlier release of ‘When I Was Older’, a song inspired by and the Academy Award-nominated film Roma, which chronicles a year in the life of a Mexican domestic worker living in the early 1970s. Like this one, the single is inspired by a single line of text.
The 17-year-old was recently confirmed for Coachella 2019. See the highly anticipated tracklist for ‘When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?’ below, and pre-order here.
‘When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?’ Tracklist
1. !!!!!!!
2. bad guy
3. xanny
4. you should see me in a crown
5. all the good girls go to hell
6. wish you were gay
7. when the party’s over
8. 8
9. my strange addiction
10. bury a friend
11. ilomilo
12. listen before i go
13. i love you
14. goodbye