By Charlotte H., Grade 9
“Grey HIT ME HARD AND SOFT vinyl with gate fold.” (Charlotte H./ Buchhof Bulletin)
Has Billie Eilish made the most anticipated album of the year for students?
“Hit Me Hard and Soft”, the 3rd studio album by Billie Eilish, came out on May 17, 2024, and it sparked excitement throughout our school and the whole world.
Before the album came out students already had anticipated what songs would be their favorite from the 16 tracks listed. For example, Thaila J., Grade 9, said that track two “Lunch” would probably be their favorite.
Billie Eilish leaked sippets of this song on social media before, making fans go crazy and getting a lot of attention drawn to this track. The gain of attention was not only for the song’s snippets but the lyrics and what it was about.
“Lunch” is Billie’s first explicitly queer song. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Billie said: “That song was actually part of what helped me become who I am, to be real. I wrote some of it before even doing anything with a girl, and then wrote the rest after.”
This song seems to be a big milestone for Billie, with her finally coming to terms with her queerness and expressing it. I think that’s what made the song gain so much love from so many people because the song reflects finding yourself and being confident in who you are. In addition, there was great production in the song. When the song was released, it was loved as much as the snippets were, sitting now at Billie’s most popular song on Spotify.
This album does exactly as it says, it hits you hard and soft. From the opening track, ‘Skinny’, Billie hits you hard with the heart-aching lyrics talking about when she became skinny and the struggles that came with that. She talks about how she still loves her old self that she hated at the time. In contrast to the strong lyrics, the melody is soft and soothing, hitting you hard and soft.
This seems to be the re-occurring theme of the album, from songs you want to get up and dance to songs you want to listen to while lying on the floor and thinking about everything.
Overall, the album received a lot of love from MIS students.
“Hit me hard and soft is the album of the year,” said Melek Z., Grade 9.
I feel like no student I interviewed was disappointed, ranking the album as their favorite one of Billie’s works. Take this as a recommendation to listen to the album from top to bottom if you haven’t done so already. Most likely you love it as much as the MIS students did.