Billie Eilish - Your Power Video

[BigDaddyLH]

I've tried to get interested in her songs a few times, but the music never really seems to get started. This is a little better than some, there's more than one phrase. Like most music videos, the visuals leave me cold.

KPop music videos leave me all tingly.

 

[stephent2]

excellent. I did enjoy the Vogue cover as well, quite unexpected.

 

[regularslinky]

Her overall style is distinctive but as we have been discussing, the "indie girl voice' is far from distinctive. It's over-used. [You can jump to 1:20]

I'm calling BS on the "indy girl voice" thing. I'm pushing 60 and I can tell Billie Eilish from Lourde from Lana Del Rey instantly. Breathy understated singing is a technique like any other, a variation on "vocal fry" that has been used forever. Hell, Tom Waits was doing it before these artists were born. Completely different from the "fake country Southern accent twang" that so many garbage "country" singers use.

 

[BigDaddyLH]

I'm calling BS on the "indy girl voice" thing. I'm pushing 60 and I can tell Billie Eilish from Lourde from Lana Del Rey instantly. Breathy understated singing is a technique like any other, a variation on "vocal fry" that has been used forever. Hell, Tom Waits was doing it before these artists were born. Completely different from the "fake country Southern accent twang" that so many garbage "country" singers use.

BS? No one is saying you can't tell singers apart. What is being said is that it is an easily identifiable vocal affectation.

Draggin in twang muddies the water.

 

[regularslinky]

Tom Waits is an "indy girl" too!

 

[regularslinky]

BS? No one is saying you can't tell singers apart. What is being said is that it is an easily identifiable vocal affectation.

Draggin in twang muddies the water.

It's not an affectation - it's a technique. A fake country accent is an affectation.

Affectation: "speech or conduct not natural to oneself : an unnatural form of behavior meant especially to impress others. His French (read country) accent is just an affectation."

 

[TeleTex82]

Or if the music could be enjoyed on its own merits - without the distractions of an accompanying video

Try closing your eyes.

 

[BigDaddyLH]

It's not an affectation - it's a technique. A fake country accent is an affectation.

Affectation: "speech or conduct not natural to oneself : an unnatural form of behavior meant especially to impress others. His French (read country) accent is just an affectation."

I don't think anyone's normal singing voice is "indie girl", unless she is drunk and you've just woken her up.

 

[tap4154]

That was absolutely amazing. I love this song and I love the visual. I'm an old guy, but when I heard about her I had Alexa play a mix of her music and she is amazing. Both her and her brother are super talented.

By the way that drone camera work is fantastic. I'm actually down camping by Julian California right now, and a little while ago this giant drone came overhead. I thought it was a helicopter approaching. It must have been six feet at least from end-to-end, maybe more.. I have a feeling it's a fire spotting drone, because a few miles away down in the desert there's been a fire for the past few days.

 

[Leonardocoate]

I'm not the target audience...I do like her James Bond song

 

[jondanger]

+1. Glad you put a name to it. That vocal-style gets old quickly for me, but there's no denying her talent, as well as her brother's.

The challenge: what *current* pop style/genre/talent *do* you like, forum members? Or is it all fist-shaking-at-clouds?

I used to call that voice “sleepy sexy baby” when Zoe Deschanel did it with M. Ward.

 

[jondanger]

but i think pop is general enough of a canvas to warrant complaining about it. ariana doesn't do the indie girl voice. gaga doesn't do it. beyonce doesn't do it. taylor swift doesn't do it. billie holiday does it and that's why i listen to ella or sarah vaughan.

The last verse of this song is relevant, and coincidentally it is by the platonic ideal of the male version of “indie girl voice.” Although FJM does have some great dirtbag anthems. Seems like an actual a hole, which makes them resonate even more.

 

[57fenderstrat]

I liked it but I have an intense snake phobia and couldn’t make it that far into the video haha

 

[StrangerNY]

I agree. I think she's a masterful vocalist. Which is why I'd really like to hear her do some jazz standards. I think she'd be fantastic at that.

EDIT: Stuff like "My Funny Valentine", "What a Wonderful World", "Fever", "Blue Skies", "Autumn Leaves"

I've always thought that she's got that 'jazz singer' quality to her voice.

She's got plenty of time to get to those standards - she's bound for a good long career, and she was made for it. She's kind of proven in the past year that she's tough enough to survive in an extremely tough industry.

- D

 

[StrangerNY]

I've liked Billie Eilish since her first EP after being introduced to her music by my daughter. I really admire the fact that she and her brother wrote and recorded everything on her first EP and album. It's increasingly rare in today's pop landscape not to have a dozens of producers, songwriters, and musicians contributing to an album.

They tried working with an outside producer, at the request of their label.

EDIT: Found the quote in the Rolling Stone interview...

When Eilish signed her first record deal, her label tried to relocate her to a real studio and get her to collaborate with more seasoned songwriters and producers. She was not a fan. “I hated it so much,” she says. “It was always these 50-year-old men who’d written these ‘big hit songs!’ and then they’re horrible at it. I’m like, ‘You did this a hundred years ago. Ugh.’ No one listened to me, because I was 14 and a girl. And we made ‘Ocean Eyes’ without anyone involved — so why are we doing this?”

They said that it just wasn't for them, and they went back to the bedroom and finished the record.

From what I understand, the only outside help they get on their stuff is a mix and mastering engineer who they know and trust.

Here's an excellent interview with their mix engineer, Rob Kinelski.

- D

 

[6stringcowboy]

Brilliant!

 

[ndcaster]

Her overall style is distinctive but as we have been discussing, the "indie girl voice' is far from distinctive. It's over-used. [You can jump to 1:20]

outstanding analysis

but it doesn't land a solid hit on Billie because of what she's using it for

I don't hear affectation in her

she's like Jacques Brel

 

[loopfinding]

It's not an affectation - it's a technique. A fake country accent is an affectation.

Affectation: "speech or conduct not natural to oneself : an unnatural form of behavior meant especially to impress others. His French (read country) accent is just an affectation."

Yeah, it’s an affectation. It’s the accent. There’s plenty of breathy vocals that don’t have that pronunciation. And someone like Halsey does it but doesn’t sing breathy. In my original post I had said my annoyance is not about the breathiness but the accent.

 

[adjason]

Yeah its pretty darn good. I find myself defending her to my 18 year old daughter -which is weird that I like her but she does not much

 

[chris m.]

I like Rick Beato’s analyses and I agree with his analysis. She’s the real deal.