The Making of Billie Eilish’s ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’

Brian Hiatt
·2 min read
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We go inside the making of Billie Eilish's third album in the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now - Credit: Matthew Baker/Getty Images/ABA
We go inside the making of Billie Eilish's third album in the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now - Credit: Matthew Baker/Getty Images/ABA

Billie Eilish held nothing back in her most recent Rolling Stone cover story — and amidst her many personal revelations, she also went deep on the making of her new album, Hit Me Hard and Soft. As Finneas, her brother, producer, and co-writer told Rolling Stone‘s Angie Martoccio — in a quote that was immediately picked up everywhere — the pair intended to make an “album-ass album,” their most cohesive statement ever. The songs twist and turn as they go, sometimes moving from balladry to tranced-out dance beats along the way, and more than one track is a multi-part suite.

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In the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, Martoccio shares what she learned from Eilish and Finneas about the process behind the album, from the way “Skinny” led to the Barbie soundtrack smash “What Was I Made For,” to the origin of the dance-y section of “L’Amour De Ma Vie”: “It was just because Billie one day asked Finneas as a joke, ‘Can you make me something that I can do cardio to?'”

To hear the entire episode, go here for the podcast provider of your choice, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or just press play above. Check out six years’ worth of Rolling Stone Music Now episodes in the archive, including in-depth interviews with Mariah Carey, Bruce Springsteen, Questlove, Halsey, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, Rick Ross, Alicia Keys, the National, Ice Cube, Taylor Hawkins, Willow, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Dua Lipa, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Charlie Puth, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, and Gary Clark Jr. And look for dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stone’s critics and reporters.

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