It’s been less than a year since her Billboard 200-topping Happier Than Ever, but that’s not stopping Billie Eilish from sharing new music with her fans. The “Therefore I Am” singer surprise-released two new songs — titled “TV” and “The 30th” — Thursday afternoon (July 21). Collectively, the two tracks are known as Guitar Songs.
“a little surprise for youuuuuuuu……,” the star wrote in her announcement on Instagram. “these songs mean so so much to me. i am so happy for them to be yours.”
Speaking with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe, Eilish explained her frustration with releasing music at this stage of her career because “when you get bigger, every drop is this big deal.”
“You got to send it in five months before you want it to come out, because you have to get finals ready, and you have to set a date, and you have to shoot the video, and you have to do the press for it … and this and that,” she said. “Which is all fine, but it’s been so long since I’ve had music that we make and then it’s out.”
Bookmarked by Finneas’s acoustic guitar and Billie’s soft vocals, both songs recall the earliest of the brother-sister duo’s music. The pair came up with “The 30th” first “because something happened on Nov. 30, and it had just been the most indescribable thing to have to witness and experience,” according to Eilish.
As for “TV,” the seven-time Grammy winner has been performing the song at her European concerts this summer after drawing inspiration from Harry Styles performing “Boyfriends” at Coachella before the song’s official release. “It’s really vulnerable to play a song that is not out that is that vulnerable to you, and that’s what I wanted to do. I missed doing that,” Eilish said.
Notably, “TV” references the tumultuous current political moment, with lyrics such as “The internet’s gone wild watching movie stars on trial/ While they’re overturning Roe v. Wade.” She noted that “we wrote that line a few weeks before it was officially overturned. It was a placeholder of doom.”
The two new songs mark the first releases from Eilish since Happier Than Ever, which arrived July 2021. Her sophomore album spawned several singles that reached the upper regions of the Billboard Hot 100, including “My Future” (No. 6), “Your Power” (No. 10), and “Happier Than Ever” (No. 11).
Listen to “TV” and “The 30th” below, and check out her interview about ‘Guitar Songs’:
