Billie Eilish, My Future, review: the emo queen emerges from lockdown in a jazzy mood

Billie Eilish has emerged from lockdown in a jazzy mood. A gorgeous, solipsistic little ode to self-care, My Future is the 18-year-old pop phenomenon’s first new music since No Time To Die. That atmospheric 007 theme-tune came out amid great fanfare in February, and went straight to number one in the UK, heralding a new Bond blockbuster campaign. The film to which it should have been attached, however, slipped back from April to a putative November, an early sign of the havoc Covid-19 was about to wreak on showbusiness schedules.

Eilish should have been touring the world now, building on the huge global success of her multiple-Grammy-award winning debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? But like the rest of us, Eilish has had to put her plans on hold. Luckily for the pop prodigy, Eilish has been locked down with her chief musical collaborator, her 23-year-old brother Finneas O’Connell. Where others may have been developing their breadmaking skills, the sibling duo have been working on new music, of which My Future is the first fruit.

It’s an interesting development for the gifted teenager, who is maturing before our very ears. Eilish’s whispery vocal intimacy, absorbingly honest lyrics, moodily atmospheric productions and spikily inventive grooves have helped establish a new down-tempo tone to blockbuster pop, subdued yet far from tame. There has been a hint of old-school showtune melody and swagger bubbling through her post-hip-hop emo electro stew since the beginning; now My Future pitches her straight into cocktail hour at a downtown jazz club.

For what amounts to a comeback single by a teenage sensation, it could hardly be more understated and old-fashioned. The first verse is effectively just Eilish smouldering quietly at an electric piano, giving a neglectful lover the kiss-off (“You check your complexion / To find your reflection’s all alone / I had to go”).

The philosophical twist on Eilish’s torch song is that she’s not ditching her vain beau for another partner, but to spend more time with herself. “I’m in love with my future / Can’t wait to meet her,” she croons. “I’m in love, but not with anybody else / Just wanna get to know myself.”

It’s a long intro, unfurling in such unhurried bliss it barely feels like a song at all, rather just a slip of meandering, melodic poetry. The genuinely surprising moment is when a kind of light bossa nova jazz-funk beat kicks in at 1 minute and 40 seconds, halfway through the short song. Across a slinky bass and lightly rattling drum-kit, Eilish gently shifts to an easy-listening groove, with a slow-motion languor that could make Astrud Gilberto sound energetic.

Given Eilish’s pole position in pop culture, it feels like a bold move, pushing the digital dial into musical terrain so old-fashioned it will probably sound new to most of her audience. Sometimes music has to go backwards to go forward.

The message of self-care in Eilish’s little jazz marvel is all the more powerful for its pandemic context. “I know I’m supposed to be lonely now / Know I’m supposed to be unhappy / Without someone / But aren’t I someone?” Eilish has spoken about battles with depression and self-doubt, and her music often evokes tones of melancholy, vulnerability and a private struggle against inner demons.

The tone of My Future, though, is upbeat and optimistic, putting a positive twist on quarantine. She has described it as emerging from a “crazy amount of self reflection and self growth.” There has been a lot of interesting music emerging from quarantine, when artists who might have been out touring their wares have suddenly found time on their hands to get creative in home studios.

Hopefully there’s more to come for Eilish. If it’s of this quality, her future seems assured.