As the new pop revolution engulfing the mainstream, with dark introspective lyrics, hip hop beats and soft (even sweet) vocal delivery, Billie Eilish is rapidly taking over one hit at a time.
Her recent Manchester Academy show embodies the unique alt-pop style and the influence she now seems to hold over any young audience she stands in front of. Engaging and relatable are perhaps the two main artistic attributes that have allowed Eilish to pull an endless massive following of young fans.
After what seemed to the brimming Manchester faithful like a ‘Lauren Hill-esque’ wait she finally appeared, telling of the injuries she had sustained to her legs, encouraging the audience to jump and dance to make up for her lack of ability to do so. The audience predictably screamed in excitement, a solid theme throughout the show. Beginning with ‘my boy’, a hit that incorporates her hip hop inspirations, with bass that would beat your heart for you, if you’d lost some adrenaline in the break after the support act, you were definitely awake again now. She followed with ‘idontwannabeyouanymore’ and ‘lovely’ the latter’s lyrics projecting Eilish’s feeling of isolation onto the audience, which they picked up and belted out right back, her voice fading into the void whilst fans took centre stage during this almost orchestral ballad. Enter Finneas, Billie’s equally talented brother and producer taking over Khalid’s vocals with a more gritty edge to the delivery.
Following the upbeat start, Eilish changed the pace with the ukulele driven ‘party favour’. During which, the menacing spider which loomed in the background of the stage turned a vibrant purple, the audience knowing every word whilst Eilish strummed in unison. During this ‘Cure-esque’ mood change, she announced her first release ‘six feet under’ asking the listener to ‘take a deep breath and relax’ preceding to somehow effortlessly deliver the vocals to each individual. Any doubts anyone had about Eilish’s vocal ability in a live capacity was definitely put to rest.
Picking it up with ‘You should see me in a crown’ and ‘bellyache’, possibly the most raucous in the set, mosh pits were attempted with only maybe one being even a half success. However, this didn’t seem to matter as her fans, still singing, dancing and screaming at any chance they got were in no mood to be deflated. Hits like ‘bury a friend’ testament to the celebratory mood of the night.
Ending her set on ‘Copycat’ Eilish urged the audience to ‘jump like kangaroos!’ perhaps producing the biggest reaction of the night, the noise ringing until the moment she left the stage.
It can’t be denied that Eilish’s genre of dark pop has brought a refreshing twist to current mainstream pop. The juxtaposing soft vocals and intense lyrics create an insight into how commercial music could develop in the future. It will be interesting to see if at such a young age Billie Eilish will be the pioneer to see this through.. the early signs are very good.
Cover Photo Credit: gigslutz
