A Ranking of Every Song on Hit Me Hard and Soft By Relatability to My Life
A Friday ranking
I think it’s safe to say Hit Me Hard and Soft is my favorite Billiem Eilish record to date. I’ve been listening to absolutely nothing else this week — except for Charlie Puth’s excellent new single “Hero,” which has him in his Tortured Poets Department bag1, and “Pinball Wizard” because I just saw The Who’s Tommy on Broadway and it’s insane and excellent and you must see it on mushrooms.
Anyway, back to Billie! She and her brother/producer FINNEAS have managed to take their production to its pinnacle, a moody pop album mixed with their signature chilly atmospheric horrorcore, epic ballads, and trip-hop influenced beats. It’s a pastiche of every element they’ve has given us before and yet it manages to build on her best songs like the Oscar-winning “What Was I Made For?” or the pulsating “Oxytocin” on Happier Than Ever.
I already reviewed the album on Keep It this week (where I said Cowboy Carter, girl, better watch out for Album of the Year2), but now that I’ve had some time to sit with it, here’s my rankings of each individual song on Hit Me Hard and Soft.
11. BLUE
Not very relatable, as I’ve never turned a song I wrote when I was 14 into a beautiful album closing track. But, it’s gorgeous! And it made me get over my fear of artists I love ending albums with a song titled “Blue.”
10. BITTERSUITE
Not to speak his name, but the production on “Bittersuite” is so Kanye coded. Billie is great when she’s in her trip-hop bag… she makes music for the millennials who grew up listening to Portishead because Sarah Michelle Gellar said it was her favorite band in an interview once.
Come to think of it, Billie would’ve definitely played at The Bronze on Buffy circa her first EP. But only “Ocean Eyes” era. She blew up too fast for a show that lived its final days on UPN. Falling in love with a toxic person is relatable but I’ve done it like, once, so this ranks next to last for me.