"I really don't like when things are out of context": Billie Eilish explains why she isn't dropping singles ahead of the release of her new album

Ahead of the release of her third LP, Hit Me Hard and Soft, singer Billie Eilish revealed that she will not be releasing any singles from the album. In a cover story with Rolling Stone on April 24, the singer's decision was largely due to her personal preference for listening to an album as a whole, saying,

"I don't like singles from albums. Every single time an artist I love puts out a single without the context of the album, I'm just already prone to hating on it. I really don't like when things are out of context."

Hit Me Hard and Soft will release on May 17 through Interscope Records, and will be her third album following We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? in 2019 and Happier Than Ever in 2021.

Billie Eilish's new album comes at the heels of the singer's phenomenal success during the awards season, which saw her become the youngest two-time Oscar winner at 22 after she won her second statue for her song What Was I Made For? from Barbie.

---

"This album is like a family": Billie Eilish about not doing singles for Hit Me Hard and Soft

While musicians usually generate interest in their new albums by releasing singles to give a glimpse into the sound and tone of their projects, Billie Eilish chose an unconventional path, banking on her popularity and talent to create hype for her new album.

On April 8, the singer took to Instagram to unveil Hit Me Hard and Soft with the caption,

"not doing singles i wanna give it to you all at once :PPP finneas and i truly could not be more proud of this album and we absolutely can’t wait for you to hear it. love you love you love you."

In an extensive interview with Rolling Stone ahead of her latest venture, Billie Eilish opened up about her mental health and her battle with depression, as well as giving her fans an insight into her latest album and her derision for singles. The singer has been vocal about not releasing any singles for Hit Me Hard and Soft, saying,

"This album is like a family: I don't want one little kid to be in the middle of the room alone."

Billie Eilish's brother and collaborator, Finneas O'Connell, also spoke out against releasing singles, citing the decision being made due to TikTok's obsession with 15-second segments of new songs that become exhaustively overplayed.

Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell at the 2024 Academy Awards (Image via Getty Images)

In an interview with Rolling Stone, he added that their decision might lead back to immersing oneself in the album, drawing parallels with the enormous success of Barbie and Oppenheimer's Barbenheimer phenomenon which saw throngs of people flock to theaters.

“Everything’s a counter-movement to the movement. I think that’s going to lead back to immersing yourself in an album. I really do,” he said.

---

Billie Eilish's Hit Me Hard and Soft will feature 10 tracks

Billie Eilish's new 10-track album will see the singer return to the girl she was when she released her first studio album in 2019. In the Rolling Stone interview, Eilish recounted her experience of her debut album's overwhelming success that led to her retreating from herself, stating that she was "grieving" for that version of herself.

She also shared that she never really felt like herself in her Happier Than Ever era, which saw the singer reinvent herself by ditching her black hair for blonde locks.

Billie Eilish reiterated that while she didn't regret that era of her life, she was glad to be coming back to her younger self with her latest album.

"I feel like this album is me. It's not a character. It feels like the When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? version of me. It feels like my youth and who I was as a kid," she continued.

Hit Me Hard and Soft will be released on May 17 on all streaming platforms. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Billie Eilish will also release limited physical copies of the album on the same day, to go green after calling out other artists for their wasteful vinyl variants of the same album.