Billie Eilish’s New Album Is a Landmark

Plumbing the dregs of her own adolescent subconscious for both amusement-park horror and the real sort, Billie Eilish aptly titled her 2019 debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? In 2021, she sardonically named her follow-up Happier Than Ever, but she might as easily have called it When We Become Superstars, Where Do We Go? In an overwhelmed tone, it expressed the identity crisis brought on by sudden fame and others’ attempts to exploit it. Now, with her third album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, the question has shifted again—perhaps, as she sings on opening track “Skinny,” to Am I Acting My Age Now?