Billie Eilish has had an incredible rise over the last few years. Releasing her debut album When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go? in 2019, the young singer-songwriter followed that up very quickly with a second album, Happier Than Ever, that’s due to drop later this week. With plenty of singles from the record already out in the universe, older hits like “Therefore I Am” and “My Future” have given way to new fan favorites like “Your Power” and my personal choice, “Lost Cause.”
In the meantime, Billie has been on something of a press tear, covering Vogue and breaking Instagram records while she’s at it, and sitting down for an in-depth video interview with Vevo. Speaking on the sound and feel of the record, she let her fans know that one of the major inspirations for the album was Frank Sinatra, which might be why her ideal vision of how listeners encounter the music for the first time is a little bit old school, too.
“You can listen however you want,” she began. “But I would love — if your car has nice speakers, or your friend’s car has nice speakers — it’s raining, you’re in a nice car with a good sound system. Turn it up, and just recline and close your eyes, and listen. That’s what I hope people will do. But listen however you want, it’s up to you.”
The news also hit today that Happier Than Ever has become the most pre-added album in Apple Music history with over a million pre-adds. So it looks like this album is shaping up to be just as successful as her last one. Now, who is going to let me borrow their nice car with great speakers for my first listen?
Happier Than Ever is out 7/30 via Darkroom/Interscope. Pre-order it here.