Lost Cause, with its all-together merriment, is a bit of a departure for Eilish, who has long presented herself, at least in videos, as an outsider. IвЂ™m like, do something with your life! Go somewhere. Cancel culture, where one misstep can send you to societal Siberia, seems impossible for anyone to navigate, but especially so when youвЂ™re young, famous and doing your growing up online. Recent gripes include her choice of boyfriends вЂ“ her ex, rapper Brandon вЂњQвЂќ Adams, wasnвЂ™t nice enough to her her supposed current boyfriend, actor Matthew Tyler Vorce, used racist and homophobic language in the past вЂ“ but also: aged 13, she once sang along with a racial slur in a Tyler, the Creator lyric (sheвЂ™s apologised, saying she had no idea what it meant at the time plus, no heat for Tyler, you notice) her video for recent single Lost Cause, in which she appears to be having a fun sleepover with other young women, is вЂњqueer-baitingвЂќ, because she is straight. Vintage Tu Pac shirt: courtesy of Saint Luis NYC. She has said that her fans are why she does what she does вЂ“ вЂњI wouldnвЂ™t want to do any of this if they werenвЂ™t involved,вЂќ she tells me вЂ“ but they also analyse her every move, flipping between worship and informing her where sheвЂ™s gone wrong. Her devotees span all ages, but she has an especially besotted young fanbase. She is huge across the world her every move, official or papped, is clickbait. Everyone wants her, from the press to her fans (88 million on Instagram) she recently admitted to having crying jags over the number of photoshoots sheвЂ™s had to do. After a rocket-powered zoom from cool indie artist to massive global fame, her second album, Happier Than Ever, is coming out and sheвЂ™s working hard to promote it. вЂњMy parentsвЂ™ house is literally five minutes away!вЂќ she hoots.Д«illie Eilish Pirate Baird OвЂ™Connell is full-on, in all senses.

Within a few seconds, sheвЂ™s driving again.

вЂњAsk me questions!вЂќ she says, as she organises herself. As she talks, she holds her phone up at random angles no standard video-call etiquette here вЂ“ her phone is an accessory, a witness to her life. вЂњWe were so in the mindset, I loved it.вЂќ SheвЂ™s pulled over, to get her dog (Shark, a pitbull) to lie on the car floor. Her voice is deeper than you might expect. It was great because I donвЂ™t write fast,вЂќ Eilish says. вЂњItвЂ™s not a Covid album, but it was the first time in four, five years that we had time off to actually make songs, without anybody telling us to, or any deadlines, or any pressure.

With her brother, Finneas OвЂ™Connell, at the American Music Awards 2020. SheвЂ™d done three dates of a massive world tour when lockdown arrived, so she and Finneas used the time to write another album. Her first album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, released in 2019, went multi-platinum and landed her five Grammys she picked up another two, this year, for her theme for the still-awaited Bond film No Time To Die and her single Everything I Wanted. EilishвЂ™s intimate, breathy vocals over the driving beat, her eye-rolling, nose-bleeding, blue-haired look in the video, and the flip of the lyrics (вЂњIвЂ™m that bad typeвЂ¦ might-seduce-your-dad typeвЂќ) took her stratospheric.

But within a few months, something happened: in 2017, her EP DonвЂ™t Smile At Me made a splash with young fans, and a year or so later Wish You Were Gay and Bad Guy smashed her into the mainstream. At her early gigs she had to sit outside on the pavement before shows, not allowed in because she was underage. She uploaded it on to SoundCloud, where it gained a couple of thousand listens and almost instantaneously landed her a management deal. SheвЂ™s 19 now, a music veteran of six years, ever since she made a track, Ocean Eyes, with her songwriter elder brother, Finneas OвЂ™Connell, known professionally as Finneas, for her dance class. Such bombastic attitude is forgivable, because Eilish is a teenager, albeit one of the most famous in the world.

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