Billie Eilish’s sophomore album, Happier Than Ever (through Darkroom/Interscope), has finally been released. The album was co-written by Eilish and her brother, Finneas, who also produced it in Los Angeles. Eilish shared the tracks “My Future,” “Therefore I Am,” “Your Power,” “Lost Cause,” and “NDA” ahead of the album’s release.
She described her track “Your Power” in an interview with Laura Snapes for British Vogue, saying, “It’s an open letter to people who take advantage—mostly men.” “I would like people to listen to me. And not just try to figure out who I’m talking about, because it’s not about that. It’s really not at all about one person. You might think, ‘It’s because she’s in the music industry’—no, dude. It’s everywhere.”
“Almost none of the songs on this album are joyful,” Eilish said in an interview with Brittany Spanos for Rolling Stone. “I was scared for it to come out because it’s my favorite song I’ve ever written. I felt the world didn’t deserve it.”
In an interview with Amy Kaufman for the Los Angeles Times, Eilish discusses Happier Than Ever. “I thought: ‘This is what I think I want my album to feel like: Julie London,’” Eilish said, referring to the American singer known for the song “Cry Me a River.” “Not the songs, but the feeling—longing, kind of dreamy and curious.”
Eilish also told Vevo, “I wanted to make a very timeless record that wasn’t just timeless in terms of what other people thought, but really just timeless for myself,” citing London, Frank Sinatra, and Peggy Lee as Happier Than Ever inspirations. “The main thing that I would hope is for people to hear what I say and then go, ‘Oh, God, I feel like that. I didn’t know I felt like that, but this is how I feel.’ And maybe, you know, make a change in their life that makes them happier,” she added.
In March 2019, Billie Eilish released her first full-length album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? In 2020, Eilish won four Grammy Awards for the album and its hit “Bad Guy”: Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Album of the Year. She also won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist for 2020.