Billie Eilish has just unveiled her highly anticipated third studio album, “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT”, through Darkroom/Interscope Records. This release, featuring 10 original tracks, marks Eilish’s most adventurous and boundary-pushing work to date.

The album lives up to its evocative title, traversing a wide range of genres and emotions. It’s a cinematic and cohesive collection that Eilish herself describes as a “family of songs”, designed to be experienced in one continuous listen. Rolling Stone has already hailed it as her “best album yet”, praising its daring and diverse soundscape.

“HIT ME HARD AND SOFT” was penned by Billie Eilish and her brother, longtime collaborator, and producer FINNEAS. The album is available on all digital platforms starting today, and in a nod to environmental consciousness, physical formats are being released in limited editions made entirely from recyclable materials.

From the opening track, the album defies expectations. The first song sets a soft, contemplative tone, only to be dramatically upended by the second track, “Lunch”. This pulsating number explores Eilish’s insatiable desire for a woman, marking a bold exploration of her sexuality. Eilish shared with Rolling Stone in an April 2024 interview that “Lunch” was a pivotal part of her personal growth.

“That song was actually part of what helped me become who I am, to be real”, Eilish revealed. “I wrote some of it before even doing anything with a girl, and then wrote the rest after. I’ve been in love with girls for my whole life, but I just didn’t understand—until, last year, I realized I wanted my face in a vagina. I was never planning on talking about my sexuality ever, in a million years. It’s really frustrating to me that it came up.”

Eilish’s comments refer to her public coming out last year, which she discussed in a Variety interview and later addressed at the magazine’s Hitmakers event. Reflecting on the experience, she told Rolling Stone, “Who fucking cares? The whole world suddenly decided who I was, and I didn’t get to say anything or control any of it. Nobody should be pressured into being one thing or the other, and I think that there’s a lot of wanting labels all over the place.”

“‘Lunch’ isn’t concerned with labels; it’s about desperately wanting to be with someone and spoiling them too”, she added.

FINNEAS, Eilish’s brother and creative partner, also spoke to Rolling Stone about the strategic ordering of the album’s tracks. “What’s funny about starting the album with [the opener] is that it is a total false promise”, he explained. “If you’re remembering ‘What Was I Made For?’ and then you hear [it], you go, ‘Oh, OK. I understand this world.’ Then the drums come in [on ‘Lunch’], and it really is the kill-the-main-character-type beat. It’s like Drew Barrymore being in the first five minutes of Scream and then they kill her. You’re like, ‘They can’t kill Drew. Oh, my God, they killed Drew!’”

With “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT”, Billie Eilish has delivered an album that is as unexpected as it is profound, inviting listeners on a journey through a labyrinth of emotions and sounds. This bold and daring release reaffirms her place at the forefront of contemporary music.

Check it out below!