Pop stars are all about albums
Contradictory though it may seem in the streaming era
TO BILLIE EILISH, things like cassettes and CDs probably seem charmingly retro. Born in 2001, the musician was six years old when Spotify launched; today she is the fourth-most popular artist on the platform. Ms Eilish has only ever known 21st-century listening habits. And yet she has emerged as an unlikely champion of a time-worn format: the album. She declared that her new record, “Hit Me Hard and Soft”, released in May, was a “cohesive” piece of work, “ideally listened to in its entirety from beginning to end”. No singles were released in advance as amuse-bouches for famished fans.
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This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Pop stars are all about albums”
From the June 8th 2024 edition
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