24. The O’Connell’s
We all know Simon and Garfunkel, Hall and Oates, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. The “new” kids on the block can now be considered seasoned professionals with iconic names to match. With Billie Eilish’s newest album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, there’s no better time for me to write on the musical partnership of our lifetime we are all witnessing in the music industry right now; Finneas and Billie O’Connell. The sibling duo from Los Angeles grew up in a creative household, their mother taught Finneas how to write music at 12 years old. Their musical hobbies turned into a moving song you might have heard of, called Ocean Eyes, which Billie sang at 15 years old. At 22, Billie has 9 Grammys and 2 Oscars. At 22, I had three casual jobs and cried at a Louis Tomlinson concert.
If you don’t consider yourself a Billie Eilish fan, I’m 87% sure bad guy, Happier Than Ever and most recently What Was I Made For? are living in one of your playlists. The latter, need I remind you, won them an Oscar. Heck, Leo couldn’t even get one until decades after perfecting his craft. I’ve got nothing (well, not much) against Leo, but Billie and Finneas haven’t even hit 10 years since “ocean eyes” came out.
Aside from all their accolades, I always see an interest in powerful teams no matter how big or small they may be. Billie’s newest album (if you haven’t heard it I give you permission to leave this blog and listen right NOW) is cohesive, intense, soft, honest, sexy, earnest and bloody good. Eilish’s previous album Happier Than Ever had me convinced it was my favourite album of the year, I wasn’t sure how they could top it. But they did. That’s a true art and a level of craft that only so few can bring to such a large platform.
Then there’s the fact that they are siblings who work in unison, not all the time, but clearly enough. I doubt I could work a retail job with one of my brothers let alone build a musical empire that brings us to tour the world together. I would like to think there’s a chance of kinship with a certain showbiz-inclined brother, but to test the limits of “blood is thicker than water” could include genuinely drawing blood if we spent too long together.
I admire Billie’s work, her creative direction and her music, let alone her candid approach to being in the spotlight. Finneas isn’t just one of the best musical producers in the industry at the moment, he also has a knack for singing on his tracks, and even appears in some Glee episodes (perhaps his most normal flex?). There is so much abnormal between these two, they are genuinely the best of friends, are approaching EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) status if they continue at this success rate, and keep making incredible music. I’m finding it hard not to recite all their achievements in this piece because it is simply impressive how far they have come together, both at such a young age. But hey, one thing they don’t have is a blog.
