Does it matter that Billie Eilish, this year’s buzziest new pop star, is a kid? Is it okay that headlines about her debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, have led with phrases such as teen-pop prodigy, not your typical 17-year-old pop star, and defines 21st-century teenage angst? If labeling is passé—and Eilish’s relentlessly surprising music makes a great case that it is—isn’t it square to fixate on the number of years she’s been alive? Ageist, even? Can’t we just listen to the music?
Eilish is a new kind of pop star for a generation born beyond Y2K, and her first LP evokes teenage living in all its modern complexities. When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, out tomorrow.
I’m really asking because I’m trying to understand my own reaction to her rapidly exploding popularity. When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? sent me, on first listen, on a cringe binge. She opens with the slurping noise of her dental braces being removed. She sneers “Duh” in a chorus like she’s Bart Simpson. One track has a bunch of The Office samples. Another comprises ukulele and baby talk. Everything is, in one way or another, “spooky,” but in the air-quotes, kawaii sense. Think The Nightmare Before Christmas. No, think Corpse Bride. No, actually, think Monster High dolls, which update Barbie’s cayenne-cleanse proportions with Pixar-character eyes and the glamour of rotting flesh.
Billie Eilish has mapped out a North American trek in support of her much-anticipated debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
After Eilish’s pair of performances at Coachella in April, the trek itself launches May 29th at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and runs through July 13th in San Diego. Along the way, Eilish will take the stage at venerable venues like Morrison, Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre (June 5th) and New York’s Radio City Music Hall (June 19th).
The When We All Fall Asleep Tour will feature Denzel Curry as its supporting act with the exception of Eilish’s June 1st gig in Vancouver; at that show, Eilish’s brother and collaborator Finneas O’Connell will serve as opening act. For ticket information, head to Eilish’s website.
See Also
Billie Eilish Gets Creepy in New 'Bury a Friend' Video, Details Debut LP
Hear Billie Eilish's 'Roma'-Inspired Ballad 'When I Was Older'
Hear Billie Eilish's Sprawling Holiday Ballad 'Come Out and Play'
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? arrives March 29th. The 17-year-old singer recently shared the LP’s first single “Bury a Friend.”
Billie Eilish Tour Dates
April 13 – Indio, CA – Coachella Festival April 20 – Indio, CA – Coachella Festival May 29 – San Francisco, CA – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium May 31 – Portland, OR – Theatre of the Clouds at Moda Center June 1 – Vancouver, BC – PNE Forum* June 2 – Redmond, WA – Marymoor Park June 4 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex June 5 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre June 7 – Kansas City, MO – Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland June 8 – Minneapolis, MN – The Armory June 9 – Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom June 11 – Toronto, ON – RBC Echo Beach June 12 – Laval, QC – Place Bell June 14 – Boston, MA – Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion June 15 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met Philadelphia June 19 – New York, NY – Radio City Music Hall June 20 – Washington, DC – The Anthem June 21 – Nashville, TN – Ascend Amphitheater June 23 – Atlanta, GA – Coca-Cola Roxy July 11 – Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre July 13 – San Diego, CA – Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre