We already knew that Billie Eilish and her brother and creative foil Finneas were close, but it seems they’re closer than many other musical siblings – so much so that they can read each other’s minds.
In a new interview with British Vogue, Billie claims that she knows what her bro is thinking just by a look, which of course comes in useful when you’re in a creative partnership like theirs.
“I mean it's the sibling thing, you know?” she said. “We look at each other in silence and we both know we're thinking the same exact thing. It happens constantly, especially with other people around. He can also read my mind when writing and creating together. He knows what I'm thinking and feeling before I even know it."
The pair co-wrote all the songs on Billie’s first three albums, with Finneas also doubling up as producer, though he has intimated that having taught Billie to produce her own tracks, he’s now ready to step back from the central role in her music.
Siblings in music have a patchy reputation. For every pair that are able to work together closely like the O’Connells (Eilish is Billie’s middle name) there are many others who find it harder to rub along.
We’re all familiar with the reputations of the Gallaghers and the Davies brothers, but the breakdown in relationship between brothers Ali and Robin Campbell has been the ravine that has split UB40 into two factions.
At an admittedly lower level, 1980s goth rockers Gene Loves Jezebel split into two rival bands each led by an Ashton brother. Ludicrously, for the last three decades Jay Ashton’s Gene Loves Jezebel has held the rights to the name in the UK, whilst his estranged brother Michael holds sway in the US.
There seems little chance of the O’Connells plumbing such absurdities. In the Vogue interview Billie explained how, when her tank is running low, it’s Finneas and her parents that “keep her sane”.
"I just love being around people that I love, people that make me laugh and make me feel whole,” she said. “You know: kindred souls. That's the stuff that keeps me sane. Laughing really is my cure. Also, I feel like being with my brother is kind of my cure, and my mama and my dad. I feel like they are always the ones when it is getting too much. Really Finneas makes everything better."
