Happier Than Ever
| Billie Eilish
Happier Than Ever
American singer Billie Eilish released her second studio album—Happier Than Ever—on July 30, 2021, through Interscope Records and Darkroom. Eilish collaborated with her brother, Finneas O’Connell, to produce the album. The singer claimed that self-reflection during the coronavirus pandemic was her biggest inspiration for this record.
Happier Than Ever features jazz-influenced, sparse, electropop arrangements that are set to mediative tempos, deviating from her upbeat debut studio album. This downtempo pop record consists of torch songs discussing stardom and its unseen downsides. Critics around the world showed appreciation for its insightful lyrics and restrained, stylistic production. Read more about Billie Eilish’s new album reviews here!
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
On her second album, Billie Eilish sings with unsparing honesty about her rapid ascent to stardom and all its accompanying horrors. It’s woozy, effortlessly melodic, and showcases her command over the pop landscape.
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Rolling Stone
Her sophomore album documents her fears and traumas and still manages to sound astonishingly self-assured.
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Stereogum
It’s impossible not to feel empathy for Billie Eilish. Her timing was too good. In the blink of an eye, her whole musical project went from a bedroom-borne SoundCloud fuckaround to the kind of thing that gets people elevated to unwanted and unsustainable voice-of-a-generation pressure. Maybe Happier Than Ever is her attempt to negotiate and alleviate that pressure. I hope it works. I also hope her next album isn’t an hour-long snoozefest.
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NME
Tackling fame and misogyny with old-timey Hollywood glamour, the star has repeated the success of her stellar debut – without repeating any of its tricks.
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The Guardian
The teenage alt-pop sensation grows up and gets loose on her bold, retro-toned second album.
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The Irish Times
With unpredictable production that twists narratives around R&B melodies, dread-inducing techno beats and breezy jazz vocals, Eilish paints a suffocating picture of the confinements and exploitations of being a celebrity and a teenager. With remarkable artistry, Eilish (and O’Connell) compare those absurdities, creating a horror show that presents lack of control as the real thing to fear.
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The Washington Post
There’s been no reason to doubt her yet, but “Happier Than Ever” can’t help but feel transitional, a liminal space between the aggrieved, phantasmagoric teen melodrama of her debut and whatever bright thing comes next.
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EW
a crashing rock-opera dirge that feels like three-chord catharsis for everything that's come before it — and a useful reminder of all the unmarked moments and muses in her very young life still to come.
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Sputnik Music
Happier Than Ever is an intimate project: trading off gaudy, angsty teen-attitude and a jarring dichotomy of styles for a much more grown up, sombre and focused collection of songs. There are little nuggets of her past dotted around in songs, but for the most part, it feels as though the fame has made her grow up at an exponential rate. The results are daring, but she’s succeeded in making the best pop album of 2021, thus far.
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The Soundboard
It’s good that this isn’t a direct copy or overly aggressive doubling down on the debut, but it would’ve been nice to have a bit more than this. At least then, these songs mightn’t seem as ephemeral as they’ve been up to now, and while this isn’t heralding the ‘flop era’ as plenty have been predicting, Eilish has still had far more fruitful points in her career.
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The Dartmouth
Billie Eilish’s ‘Happier Than Ever’ Juxtaposes Confidence and Vulnerability.
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Slant Magazine
Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever Is a Thoughtful, Confident Statement of Intent.
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Beats Per Minute
Aesthetically, it may be polarizing compared to the hit factory that was her debut, but Happier Than Ever stands on its own as a powerfully flawed, overstuffed, but meaningful exploration of what it’s like to live as both a teenager and a superstar in ways that none before her felt comfortable saying.
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Cult MTL
Though it lacks the anthems of its predecessor, Happier Than Ever shows Billie Eilish processing the pitfalls of being on top of the pop world — and developing greater maturity and confidence in the process.
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Popmatters
In terms of stylistic progression, the album shows Eilish largely abandoning her erstwhile pop trajectory. Instead, she revels in lowkey tempos, sultry atmospheres, and vocal intonations that would be perfect for a small, hazy jazz club on a Friday night. Make that a Sunday night.
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AV Club
Billie Eilish’s second album expands upon everything that worked the last time and pushes it in new directions, a creative muse restless and bold in its ambition. It may not always land, but this is a terrific release that proves Eilish’s staying power, demonstrating she’s more than up to the task of delivering on the promise of her debut.
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The Line of Best Fit
Billie Eilish is quite rightly one of the biggest artists in the world right now, and despite its flaws, Happier Than Ever - and Eilish - will continue to break records.
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AllMusic
Delivering on the promise of her industry-shaking debut with confidence and grace, Happier Than Ever has the markings of a big career moment, one that signals artistic growth and hints at even more greatness to come.
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Daily Bruin
By weaving seemingly disparate songs into a cohesive sonic and lyrical experience, Eilish demonstrates that she can masterfully handle life’s complexities with the perspective of someone far beyond her age. With the promise “Happier Than Ever” delivers, Eilish is not the only one in love with her future.
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Oxygen
Happier Than Ever is a rare case of improvement over a massively successful debut. Instead of caving under the pressure she made a diamond.
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South China Morning Post
Billie Eilish remains brilliant with emotional second album.
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Analog Planet
I think all the songs fit the narrative well, it just feels slightly incohesive as a full work. Still, it's an excellent record, especially in the production department. Finneas’ production perfectly compliments Billie's lyrics and vocal performances, in that it's at turns dark, menacing, and light enough but substantive enough to convey the point.
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Redbrick
The sound and lyricism seems so much more mature than her previous album and she appears far more confident in her talent, creating an album which is one I will have on repeat, especially if I am sad and need a good cry.
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Medium
While I still believe that Happier Than Ever is still a brilliant project, especially in its main narrative focus, everything surrounding it opens a real can of worms. This sophomore album is far, far away from being the representative of her “flop stage”, I have rarely felt as conflicted towards an album like this one.
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Vinyl Chapters
Happier Than Ever more than proves that Billie Eilish is doing better than she ever was – personally, sonically, and thematically.
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Black Boy Bulletin
Happier Than Ever is filled with pockets of genius that remind us of why the world was so enraptured with Billie in 2019.
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Music Connection
Eilish’s sophomore album is an honest reflection of her evolution—the public scrutiny, the culmination of dreams, and the bittersweet acceptance of a new normal. Most tracks resemble a diary entry, made more vulnerable by Eilish’s whispered vocals. As a direct address to critics, “Not My Responsibility” is powerful in its sincerity, yet her vocal delivery is fragile and drained. It’s this same paradox which encapsulates the album as a whole. While the title suggests happiness, the stripped-back jazz tone evokes melancholy. Fans will appreciate her candor, but the weight of the ballads are a heavy load for pop music to carry.
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Brooklyn Vegan
These songs feel like the result of a very natural creative spark, and they go down easy. I can't spot any noticeable filler on the album, and some of the songs already rival the highest highs of her debut. It's rare that the most famous musicians are also the ones taking the most risks and writing some of the best music around, but Billie Eilish is one of those musicians.
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Louder than War
What Billie has delivered here is a confident second album, which will resonate and be a soundtrack with fans of a similar age, while being enjoyed for what it is by those of us older.
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Riot
Billie Eilish and Finneas capitalize on Eilish’s vertiginous rise to fame by broadening their palette on Happier Than Ever without ever trying to recreate the hits that got them in this position.
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Peanut Butter Pope
This face is sick and tired of the ugly behaviour far too prominent in the music industry and everyday life. Behind the features many have obsessed over exists a brain, one that has crafted a monumental, artistically-levelling album seldom expected of a nineteen-year-old pop singer. Here’s hoping its themes will one day become less relevant, and for Billie’s sake, here’s hoping ‘Happier Than Ever’ is a title that may one day be used with no irony.
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891 The Point
I truly think that this is the best album I have listened to since the start of 2021 and I think that whether you like Billie Eilish or not, you will probably find at least one song that you will love on this album. It is a genuine masterpiece.
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Belwood Music
Happier Than Ever is superb at the former, but falls flat with the latter, and while it says some important things I certainly didn’t find it an enjoyable listen.
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The Badger Online
Billie’s second album is a beautiful representation of her coming to adulthood. It portrays her achievements, regrets and hopes for the future. The mixing of more upbeat tunes alongside more haunting truths allows for a really enjoyable listening experience but also for learning and clarity on Billie’s truths.
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Spectrum Pulse
Happier Than Ever feels higher stakes than an indie folk diversion, and I think that’s what kept pulling me back into her world and story. There’s a lot of unpretentious wisdom from someone who’s not even twenty yet on this album, and combined with the feeling that this is kind of transitional and once again reflects so much untapped potential.
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Hotpress
It’s the perfect finishing touch from an artist who has scaled the peaks and, as they gaze down upon the world, seems to have become overwhelmed with a sense of isolation. And it is a reminder that, even when engaging in the well-worn celebrity ritual of bemoaning the burdens of fame, Eilish remains a pop star like no other.
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Melodic Magazine
There were moments with some tracks that I felt Billie could’ve made it more impactful or well-blended. However, I also feel like she made a strong sophomore album. She didn’t feel the need to stick with her previous themes and motif, but you can still feel influences from her previous work’s progression. She also showed off her voice more and her stylistic growth. In the intro track, “Getting Older,” Billie says “I’m getting older / I think I’m aging well.” With this LP as evidence, I agree.
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Beep
It would be nice to see Eilish explore further with the rock genre and create similar songs to the titular track Happier Than Ever, as it is apparent she has the talent to do so. But overall this is a strong sophomore release from Billie Eilish, and it will be exciting to see what is next for the 19-year-old megastar.
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B-Sides
Happier Than Ever’ may fall short on some individual tracks, but the portrait it paints of Eilish is a potent and endearing one. ‘Happier Than Ever’ reveals to us that the global superstar still has that earnest, grounded core that drew so many fans to her in the first place, and that just as the public wrestles with her image and monumental fame, she is also quietly considering the unique position she inhabits. Eilish channels the confusion, tentative excitement, and mounting fear that comes from those considerations into her art time and time again, and when we break through to those moments where she perfectly captures those anxieties sonically, we can see the true prowess of the world’s biggest pop star.
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The Independent
The 19-year-old fills her second album with things most of us don’t have to deal with – NDAs, interviews, paparazzi – and yet she weaves them around universal woes.
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Stack
All I can say is, I’m so glad that that young girl from Twitter is listening to Happier Than Ever right now, and is feeling seen.
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Spinditty
One thing that sets Happier than Ever apart from its predecessor is its maturity and cohesiveness. It is certainly more well-structured than her previous project, which is evidence of her growth as an artist. The album sounds more mature, which is probably due to it being a personal record. Her singing is glorious all throughout, and the highlight of that for me is the second half of the title track, which sees Billie unlock a more daring vocal range—one which every fan would expect more of in her subsequent projects. The concept of the album was well thought out, and no track seems incredulously out of place.
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Sanity Blog
From start to finish, ‘Happier Than Ever’ will captivate you with it’s brutal honest and sincere vulnerability. It’s intended to be a record that you listen to from start to finish and immerse yourself in the dreamy soundscapes that Billie Eilish and FINNEAS have dreamt together. It showcases an impressive mature growth since ‘WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?’ and with her songwriting becoming a lot more direct, she’s going to continue relating to a wider audience.
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Evening Standard
a unique and transfixing star.
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Clash Magazine
Ultimately ‘Happier Than Ever’ sits in a completely different realm from her debut. Pared back and finely contoured, it revels in subtlety, with a kind of crepuscular glow settling on her potent meditations. Whether it’s the glowing choral impact of ‘GOLDWING’ or the dense paranoia of ‘NDA’, it’s a record that revels in quiet contradiction. Patiently moving into a new era, ‘Happier Than Ever’ is shrouded in a transformative darkness.
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The Arts Desk
These are guttering torch songs, for a generation flinching from definition.
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The Young Folks
Billie Eilish’s second album is autobiographical and enigmatic.
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The Student Playlist
Bringing out different textures in her sound, Billie Eilish’s songwriting and production is as sharp as ever on second album ‘Happier Than Ever’.
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Erie Reader
At 16 tracks, the album could lose a couple of repetitive moments ("Everybody Dies," "Male Fantasy"), but otherwise, Happier Than Ever is the kind of album that rewards repeat listeners.
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The Telegraph
a sad, delicate, defiant follow-up from the teenage superstar.
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Northern Transmissions
Lucky for us all, Eilish is a talent beyond her years and is able to condense these huge issues into easily understandable lyrics that not only showcase how talented she is but also how smart. It is a beautiful album and one that will inspire and provoke conversations for many years to come.
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Riff Magazine
Happier Than Ever is an artistic risk for an artist not afraid to take them. Will the album spawn some of the pop anthems of her prior record? Likely not. But that isn’t the point. Eilish has crafted a fantastic, if somber, portrait of herself as a person—taking her identity back from those who’ve tried to frame her in other images—and fused it into a cohesive record.
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