Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft

[Envoirment]

I wonder if she'll do a career best first week? The streaming debut is strong and I would assume her pure sales will be 150-200k as her pre-orders were over 100k? She did 313k first week with When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and 238k with Happier Than Ever. The former she did 154k pure sales and 84k streaming. Given her spotify debut is double what she did for Happier Than Ever I assume she could do ~150k from streaming this time round especially if the album holds on well. Pure sales I think will be higher than 154k, perhaps 180k-200k?

I'm thinking she will do 300-350k first week with the album?

[Choco]

Career best debut will come down to how it holds. Right now I'd say she does about 300k, so just below WWAFA,WDWG?, but if LUNCH really connects and holds well, that 13k lead will vanish.

[PGriffin]

This is interesting….I didn’t connect with her second album at all but I like what I have heard so far. Lunch is catchy af. She sounds sounds really good.

[spiritboy]

Chihiro is a masterpiece.

[Choco]

May 18, 2024 10:37:35 GMT -5 spiritboy said:

Chihiro is a masterpiece.

Yeah! LUNCH might be getting most of the attention, deservedly, but CHIHIRO is probably my fave.

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

Going back through ALL the Billie and I don't think WWAFA,WDWG is that strong as a full album in hindsight. Excellent and unique highs, but I could shelve about half of it to be honest. Much prefer HTE. Probably could have lost 2-3 tracks, but I love it.

[jenglisbe]

Yeah this is a really solid album. My early favorites are "Lunch" and "Birds of a Feather."

The Grammys love her, so I definitely expect a lot of noms since this project is so good. The weird part is she is 0-4 in Pop Solo, so I am wondering if she can finally get a win there.

[SHOOTER]

WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?: #1, 313k SPS (170k sales)

Happier Than Ever: #1, 238k SPS (154k sales)

HIT ME HARD AND SOFT: 240-260k SPS (initial projection)

[Nick]

Chihiro and Birds... are my faves on my first few listens.

[Dylan :)]

[wavey.]

May 18, 2024 17:05:20 GMT -5 Dylan :) said:

Love this production wow

[born]

I didn't get to write my first listen review cause I had my first listen with my friends. My first impression was pretty mixed. She's truly incorporating new sounds and I like how "explicit" the songwriting is. However, too many of the songs have switch-ups and that honestly hurts all of the individual parts. I wish they didn't try to replicate the impact of "Happier Than Ever" because some of my favorite moments on the album (ex. the beginning of "BITTERSUITE") didn't get the chance to breathe and build up. IIRC, the entire back half of the album had switch-ups in the middle of the songs. I wish they were at least listed as separate tracks.

The album is definitely a grower. My initial favorite was "CHIHIRO" by far, but I'm curious to see which of the other songs will stand out to me after a few listens.

[Dylan :)]

She has released an acapella version of the album

[👑 Eloquent ™]

Reaaaally strong album! Loving several songs ATM. Probably her strongest offer yet! Here's hoping she secures that #1 debut!

Eta: I can understand criticisms of the whisper vocals. Yeah she uses her "full" voice in some areas here, or moreso than before, but the whisper voice is still certainly the most prominent still, but that's just her style of singing so it's going to come down to a personal preference thing.

[G-Reg]

I've been a casual fan of some of her songs from the last 2 albums, and I really her subtle dark alt-pop style, which this album seems to be lacking. Is it just me or is this a huge stylistic change for her? It feels much brighter and poppier. Nothing's connecting with me so far, but maybe I need to give it more time.

[Choco]

To me this is pretty much in the same lane as all her projects? They have all had similar variety in the sounds and the vibe is similar. It's not an Avril Lavigne moment where she sufdenly drops a bubblegum pop album.

[G-Reg]

It's not bubblegum for sure, and she's getting rave reviews so I'm definitely in the minority. My favs by her are NDA/Therefore I am and Bury A Friend. Not really getting those vibes on this album. Think it's just that my expectations were different so I have to adjust those and just enjoy.

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

May 19, 2024 15:13:12 GMT -5 Choco said:

To me this is pretty much in the same lane as all her projects? They have all had similar variety in the sounds and the vibe is similar. It's not an Avril Lavigne moment where she sufdenly drops a bubblegum pop album.

Same for me, has a couple of brighter moments (eg. Birds of a Feather) but otherwise there are no big changes.

[Ivy Leegue™]

Literally in shock by how good this album is. Album of the year for sure, so far and the competition has been STIFF. Also, this album is near impossible to rank, Sheer perfection from top to bottom. Billie really is a special artist with a strong artistic core. I stan. A+ album. Here is my attempt, from my fave to least fave. Keep in mind, every song is perfect:

Birds Of A Feather (Her best song. Absolutely beautiful and pure.)
The Greatest
Chihiro
The Diner
L'Amour De Ma Vie
Lunch
Bittersuite (lost points because of the final act, which is still great, LOL)
Skinny
Wildflower
Blue

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

It makes me sad that people don’t appreciate Billie’s softer whispery vocals. They’re exquisite but I’m also glad she’s showing her other extreme on this album too.

[• Господин Умљеновић •]

Listening to it and this is actually the very first album of her that I listen to.
Will listen to others once I finish my trip and I am calm.

I like what I hear

Btw which album should I listen in full next for the 1st time?

[SHOOTER]

I’ve played it a few times since it’s dropped and it’s solid but nothing too far outside of her previous albums. The haunted house vocals and what she and Finneas does with them works well.

[bee]

I'm a casual fan. I usually like 2-4 songs per album. I really like this album. I keep listening to it on repeat.

[Ryan]

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

I love that he's wearing a Crash Test Dummies tshirt

[Peterawr]

CHIHIRO and Birds are the two best songs she’s ever done

And putting them back to back was just sublime.

Love this project, and what she’s done to progress her sound while still staying true to her sound.

[Ivy Leegue™]

The Pitchfork writer who claimed that this album is just more of the same from Billie and Finneas must be a Pulse member.

[dbhmr]

May 20, 2024 9:23:58 GMT -5 bee said:

I'm a casual fan. I usually like 2-4 songs per album. I really like this album. I keep listening to it on repeat.

Same here. I'm loving this album and it's making me wonder if I need to give her previous albums another chance. I've always liked a handful of songs from her but hadn't enjoyed the albums in full.

This is fantastic, though. My favorites are all the stretch from "BIRDS OF A FEATHER" through "L'AMOUR DE MA VIE," but the whole thing is a really nice listen. "LUNCH" is fun, "SKINNY" and "BLUE" are great bookends and really lends itself to repeated listens. The end of "WILDFLOWER" sort of reminds me of Kacey's "Anime Eyes" in that twist on the melody line and it being so good it makes me want to listen to the whole song again just to get to it (and in both cases, the song that comes before it is also fantastic).

Can't wait for Kelly Clarkson to deliver a killer cover of "THE GREATEST" lol.

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

The Pitchfork review surprised me a little. Not because it wasn't glowing and that should be the default, but it's clear the switch-ups in songs isn't something the reviewer was enjoying at all. I do agree the mix is an ongoing issue though, it can be imbalanced and needs some refinement.

[munx 🐒🎯]

I’ve only been playing this since the release. Can’t get enough!!

May 19, 2024 22:34:55 GMT -5 Rose "Payola" Nylund said:

It makes me sad that people don’t appreciate Billie’s softer whispery vocals. They’re exquisite but I’m also glad she’s showing her other extreme on this album too.

same!!