Love her, hate her – the thing that cannot be dispute is that she has left an indelible mark on the firmament of contemporary popular music. To tide over the waiting period until the release of her new album, Billy Eilish has released a photo book showcasing how she was brought up from infancy and her evolution to the person she is now.
In essence, the book is for fans who are granted an unaltered and intimate glimpse behind the scenes. Carefully curated by herself, it offers an insight into the strangeness that is the ascent to fame, framed by poignant captions that at times reveal more about her than the photos themselves – same goes for the audiobook, which includes further commentary and elaborations by her and family.
What makes the book more than a mere merchandise article is that Eilish exhibits strength and confidence by deliberately exposing part of her and making herself vulnerable in a bid to reclaim autonomy about the narrative of her life.
There is much that can be read into the photos and interpreted, however, my takeway is that her Eilish’s career has been an organic development with a pureness at its core that has not been entirely tainted by the music industry and its mechanisms.
A book that adds depth and a string to the bow of a writer and performer with an idiosyncratic approach that will keep her audience on its toes.
