Lana Del Rey speaks about Billie Eilish's new album
Lana Del Rey and Billie Eilish had a conversation about her 'Hit Me Hard and Soft' album and the inspiration behind some of the songs including the criticism she received when coming out about her sexuality.
A conversation between Lana Del Rey and Billie Eilish has been published in Interview Magazine.
Lana asked Billie about her recent release, 'Hit Me Hard and Soft'. The album came out on May 17.
It features ten songs, including the popular tracks, 'Chihiro' and 'Lunch'.
'Lunch' was released three weeks ago and already has 28-million views on YouTube, while 'Chihiro', which was released seven days ago, has 8.9-million.
READ: Billie Eilish shares new details about her upcoming album
Lana appreciated the album.
"This album had me smiling the whole time. I was like, 'Yep, there she is again'," she said.
"There were only two things that surprised me. One was a song called 'The Greatest,' because I was like, 'That doesn’t fit with what we’re talking about here.' I was like, 'Who is that?' And then in 'Skinny,' when you were like, 'I’ve always loved you.' I was like, 'If someone had asked me, ‘Do you think anything would bother her?’ I’d be like, ‘Probably something, but I could not tell you what.’ So Billie Eilish does get hurt sometimes? What the hell?" said Lana.
Billie explained that the album deals with how she was in her relationships - nonchalant.
"It’s interesting to be a person who isn’t an outwardly sensitive complainer. A lot of moments on this album are about situations where I was like, “I’d rather be tortured inside but have somebody think that I’m cool, than have somebody think that I’m hysterical and actually express my feelings.” So many songs on this album reflect that realization of, like, “Maybe I’m obsessed with the idea of nonchalance.”
Billie added that she "would rather suffer in silence than tell you something’s bothering me and have you think I’m sensitive."
Lana explained that she has never taken Billie as someone who would need to put on a facade.
"I never pictured you needing to keep it together. I picture myself needing to keep it together at certain points," Lana said.
Billie explained how, as a lover, she would always shut her emotions out.
"I come off as a person that doesn’t care. I care about people and I have love and passion, but in relationships, I found myself never ever expressing any of my needs. It was interesting to notice I was doing that, and that’s what these lyrics are about. It’s almost like I resent myself for not advocating for myself, because maybe if I had, things would’ve changed. But I’ve always had an issue with weakness," she explained.
Billie also talked about publicly coming out about her sexuality.
"I’m lucky that we’re in a period of time that is so much more welcoming in a lot of ways. It’s still a big deal, but it’s not. The thing that’s been frustrating and gives me a lot of anxiety is the feeling of needing to explain myself all the time," she told Lana.
"Every time I’ve gotten past the point of frustration and end up explaining myself, it’s only gotten worse. That caused me to prematurely state things that I don’t even feel confident or comfortable knowing about myself. And suddenly, I’m saying them publicly, and everyone’s like, “Oh, that’s who she is.” And I’m like, “You are making me feel like I am not allowed to grow and change.” It’s so fucking scary, because everything is written in stone," she added.
On the subject of love, Billie said she has never been dumped.
"I don’t know how many times I’ve really been in love. I think there’s different versions of love, and I think that you can be in love and it might not be deep. I’m not going to get too in detail, because I’m going to be rude, but I’ve never been dumped, and also, I’ve never been broken up with. I’ve only done the breaking up,” Billie told Lana.
“I think when people hear that, they’re like, ‘Oh, all you do is break hearts.’ Sure, but that doesn’t mean that people are totally innocent. It means that I was like, ‘Oh, let me get the f*ck out of here.’ Or it means things just weren’t right,” she added.
READ: Billie Eilish amongst artists against inappropriate use of AI in music
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