Billie Eilish has announced that her new album, Hit Me Hard And Soft, will be released on 17 May via Darkroom/Interscope/Polydor Records.
Said to be her most daring body of work to date - and once again co-written and produced by Eilish’s brother, Finneas - we’re told that this is “a diverse yet cohesive collection of songs, ideally listened to in its entirety from beginning to end”.
Other takeaways from the press release are that Hit Me Hard And Soft “journeys through a vast and expansive audio landscape,” twisting multiple genres along the way.
Writing on Instagram, Eilish confirmed that she’s both nervous and excited to be announcing the new record - her third - and explained that she’s “not doing singles”, preferring to give fans the complete album in one hit.
There’s no evidence of a tracklisting, but it has been confirmed that all digital and physical versions of the album will contain the same songs and be released on the same day in a bid to minimise waste and combat climate change.
That said, there are eight vinyl colour options; some fans will doubtless want to collect all of these, though they are being produced by following “the most sustainable practices available”. The standard black LP is made from 100% recycled black vinyl, while the remaining seven will be manufactured using Eco-Mix or BioVinyl.
The album announcement comes in the wake of Eilish’s widely publicised interview with Billboard, in which she criticised artists who release “40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more”.
“It’s so wasteful,” she added, “and it’s irritating to me that we’re still at a point where you care that much about your numbers and you care that much about making money - and it’s all your favourite artists doing that shit.
The vinyl, cassette and CD versions of the album are available for pre-order on the Billie Eilish website.
