Album Review: 'When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?'

Billie Eilish matches heavy bass, dark lyrics, and captivating vocals on her debut album.

Written by Mandie Meier

Photo courtesy of Darkroom and Interscope Records

The melodic (and somewhat loony) alternative-pop queen Billie Eilish’s debut album is here —  and it doesn’t disappoint. Since the release of her 2017 EP, don’t smile at me, fans have been patiently waiting to hear more from Eilish. And boy, are we hearing more.

Eilish’s rise to the spotlight started when she was only 14 years old with the release of her captivating single “Ocean Eyes.” Now age 17, Eilish offers her most compelling and confident work yet with When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (stylized in all-caps). The album, which was entirely produced by Eilish and her brother, Finneas, in their childhood home, showcases her creative growth. While her previous EP don’t smile at me is much more melodic with soft and airy production, When We All Fall Asleep shows a darker, yet fun sound. The intro, which is simply titled with seven exclamation points, kicks off the album by giving a glimpse into Eilish’s unapologetically unique personality. The 13-second track is just audio of Eilish taking out her Invisalign retainer in an ASMR-like fashion, stating, “I have taken out my Invisalign, and this is the album.”

From the beginning, her charisma breaks the mold to give an alternative look at what pop could be. Eilish doesn’t care about a kept-up clean image. Along with letting her personality speak for itself, she often wears baggy clothes and no makeup, resisting expectations of pop star femininity.  

After the intro comes arguably one of the best songs on the album. “bad guy” is productionally bass-heavy with lyrics playfully taunting a lover. The cadence of the electronic chime over bouncy lyrics and breathy vocals brings the listener in immediately. Eilish is teasing and crude, singing that she’s the “might seduce your dad type” of “guy.” Toward the end of the song, the beat switches to have even stronger 808s with Eilish whispering spoken word to close out the track. “bad guy” is the most pure pop song on the album with its bass and kick-drums, but the synthesizers after the chorus add a twist and make the track somewhat mysterious.

Despite the rest of the album slowing down from the 135 beats per minute of “bad guy,”  the remaining tracks are anything but stale.

The beginning of the album has a new feel that differs from Eilish’s debut sound and includes lots of heavy-hitting bass. “xanny” and “you should see me in a crown” are both reminiscent feeling the bass, quite literally, in your chest at a live concert. “xanny” has an intermittently narrow bass that almost feels meme-like but gets pulled off successfully.

“xanny” also attributes to Eilish’s aversion to self-medicating, which she speaks of sporadically throughout the album. In “my strange addiction,” she sings, “Be my reliever cause I don’t self medicate.” Another common theme throughout the album is Eilish’s preoccupation with death. In “xanny” she sings, “I can’t afford to love someone / who isn’t dying by mistake in Silver Lake.” Toward the latter half of the album this theme becomes a bit more straightforward.

“when the party’s over,” first released as a single in late 2018, remains a standout track. The track sets the tone for the latter half of the album that channels Eilish’s older sound, incorporating her signature soft and breathy melodies and mournful tone.

The darker tone is continued with tracks, prismizer effective “bury a friend” and synthy “ilomilo,” which contrast sonically from the final three songs. “bury a friend” is written from the perspective of a monster under her bed. Ultimately, Eilish becomes the monster.

Although the final songs also center on dark topics, they’re far from scary on the ears. “listen before i go,” “i love you,” and “goodbye” have arguably the most gorgeous and talented vocals on the whole album.

“listen before i go” expresses the most cynical themes on the album. She sings, “Take me to the rooftop / I wanna see the world when I stop breathing.” The song discusses suicide, and she tells her lover to hurry and listen to her before she’s gone.

In an interview with PopBuzz, Eilish confirmed that she wanted the last three songs to sound like a sentence: “Listen before I go, I love you, goodbye.” She also had a song that she cut called “i don’t know, i just wish i wasn’t breathing,” which would’ve come before “listen before i go.”

Other stand-out tracks from the album are “wish you were gay” and “my strange addiction.” “wish you were gay” gives a sense of hopelessness, but they’re far from the usually-grim Eilish. The track gives a unique numeric approach to being rejected, focusing on Eilish’s wish to be rejected because of a guy’s sexual orientation, instead of something specifically wrong with her. “To spare my pride / To give your lack of interest an explanation / Don’t say I’m not your type / Just say I’m not your preferred sexual orientation.”

”my strange addiction” is another one of the more fun songs on the album. The catchy rhythm has another pop-y feel, similar to “bad guy.” It also gives another inside look to Eilish’s personality by including snippets from the popular television show, “The Office.”

Overall, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? feels like serene drowning. Most of the lyrics are heavy and cut deep, yet her voice is so tranquil. The heavy bass gets your heart racing while the vocals create a gentle mood. Her newest work cements her place as one of the most captivating new voices in pop, a feat made all the more impressive when considering her youth.