BILLIE EILISH (with Molly Lambert)

May 5, 2022

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Writer and host of the new podcast Heidi World: The Heidi Fleiss Story, Molly Lambert, joins DJ Louie to break down the spectacular emergence of Gen Z's most paradigm-shifting star, Billie Eilish. First, Molly, who profiled Billie last year for the cover of Elle, shares insights into what it was like spending time with her, how she's relating to her newfound megastardom, as well as her fans on social media and out in the world, and why she doesn't consider herself a "pop star" at all. Louie and Molly then discuss how unlikely 2010s breakouts like Lorde, Halsey and Lana Del Rey softened the ground for idiosyncratic, insular-sounding bedroom artists to become mainstream pop stars. Next, they track Billie's career origins, along with her brother and collaborator Finneas, on Soundcloud, how their viral hit "Ocean Eyes" lead to a record deal with Interscope when Billie was just 15, and how her debut EP, 2017's Don't Smile At Me, presented a new kind of teen idol who leaned into, rather than glossed over, the alienation, depression and anxiety of being a young person in the internet era, thus endearing her to a new generation of pop fans who craved less-aspirational and more relatable pop figures. They also dive into she and Finneas' far-ranging aesthetic influences from horror movies to trip hop, Gorillaz, Lil Peep, Bjork, Garbage and even Frank Sinatra, before laying out her explosion into the mainstream with her debut album, 2019's Grammy-sweeping When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, how that record expanded the duo's musical palette but also perhaps garnered Billie an unwanted and unintentional level of fame, how she went about addressing all of that on her sophomore album, 2021's more low-key masterpiece Happier Than Ever, how she's uniquely positioned to bring large swaths of the pop-consuming public along with her singular, strange musical instincts, and where she might go next. Finally, Louie and Molly rank Billie Eilish in the official Pop Pantheon.