New Music Reviews: Billie Eilish, Little Simz, and Natalie Hemby

It’s not technically true, but it’s essentially sophomore albums today. Superstar Billie Eilish releases her second album, UK rapper Little Simz is back for her second record with Inflo, while Natalie Hemby follows her 2017 soundtrack Puxico with a studio album of classy country.

Billie Eilish

Happier than Ever

2021, 8/10
Billie Eilish’s debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? made a major impact. Among other milestones, Eilish became the fifth artist to win both Best New Artist and Album of the Year at the Grammies. Such acclaim was premature for a teenager still developing her craft, but she was instantly charismatic and relatable for disaffected teenagers.

Eilish’s second album, Happier Than Ever, was still a worldwide number one but hasn’t had the same cultural impact. Yet it’s a better record, suggesting that Eilish might not join Starland Vocal Band and Milli Vanilli in the ranks of the Best New Artist Grammy curse.

As with her debut, Eilish’s main collaborator is her brother Finneas, who provides cowrites, production, and instrumentation. Happier Than Ever is a little long at 56 minutes, although, unusually, the strongest material is clustered toward the end. ‘Your Power’ is sparse and majestic, with Eilish accompanied by acoustic guitar. ‘NDA’ accompanies Eilish’s vocals with an electronic pulse, while ‘Happier Than Ever’ begins as a torch song and builds to a dramatic conclusion with its big guitars. Happier Than Ever is much more sonically ambitious album than before, but the low-key, bass-driven ‘Therefore I Am’ revisits the territory of her debut.

Happier Than Ever outstays its welcome, but it’s enough to demonstrate that Eilish is here for the long haul.

Little Simz

Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

2021, 9.5/10
Little Simz is a London-based rapper, singer, and actor with Nigerian heritage. The title of her fourth album, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, is an acronym of her given name Simbiatu. I came on board with her third album Grey Area, produced by Sault’s Inflo. Inflo is back for SIMBI, but where Grey Area was abrasive and experimental, this is a glossier and more accessible record. Simz’ social conscience and double threat as a rapper and singer recalls the neo-soul of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

Right from the opening ‘Introvert’, the record oozes confidence. The opening orchestral fanfare could have opened a James Bond theme, while the dialogue comes from actor Emma Corrin.

Despite Simz’s introversion, she’s often sharing personal themes with the world – ‘I Love You, I Hate You’ is about her difficult relationship with her father. Inflo’s productions have become more ambitious – along with the orchestration, ‘Protect My Energy’ could have come from Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Inflo has produced a raft of great music over the past few years, but Sometimes I Might Be Introvert is the best record he’s produced yet.

Natalie Hemby

Pins and Needles

2021, 8/10
Natalie Hemby signed a record deal with Sony in her early twenties, but the deal fell through. Instead, she’s established a successful career as a songwriter, writing material for Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves, and Little Big Town. Now in her forties, she’s establishing a recording career as well. She released the soundtrack Puxico in 2017, about the Missouri town where her grandfather lived, while she was a member of the supergroup The Highwomen – her song ‘My Only Child’ was one of the record’s best. Pins and Needles feels like her official studio debut, the album that fell through twenty years ago.

Hemby told Variety that she wants to make “a Sheryl Crow, Shawn Colvin, Paula Cole, Lilith Fair, 1997-sounding record”. She enlisted her husband, producer Mike Wrucke, to help her capture that 1990s sound. Rockers like ‘Heroes’ and ‘Banshee’ recalls Crow’s heyday, but Hemby’s gentle voice is best suited to low key songs like ‘Heart Condition’ and ‘Radio Silence’. ‘Lake Air’ is particularly stunning, Hemby’s reminiscence of a romantic encounter: “When you kissed my lips/I breathed you in/And held you there/Lake air”.

It makes sense to feature rockers on Pins and Needles, to widen Hemby’s appeal, but she’s just sublime at acoustic ballads.

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