Billy Eilish has something important to tell you in new visual. The singer’s saying no to drugs in her most recent uncomfortable, yet mesmerizing music video.
For her directorial debut, rising star Billie Eilish released a haunting music video for her song “xanny” from her debut studio album WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?, a few days ago. Standing at four-and-a-half minutes long, the video features the singer in an all-white room, sitting on a white bench, wearing an all-white ensemble. While Billie is usually known for her striking fashion choices and bold hair colors, the “bad guy” singer appears a lot calmer in this video.
In a recent interview with MTV, Billie revealed that the music video — which shows the singer receiving cigarette burns all over her face while she sits still — is meant to make its viewers uncomfortable, delivering a certain message about cigarettes and drug usage in general. “I just wanted it to sound the way that it feels to breathe in recycled breath,” said Billie. “Recycled, poisonous breath, I may add. I just wanted it to feel miserable.”
“xanny” concerns Billie’s anti-drug stance — a message conveyed through the video as Billie does nothing about her multiplying cigarette burns until the video nears its end, where the singer simply stands up, leaves the frame, and disappears, perhaps as a way of saying how one can dissociate themselves from toxicity by excusing themselves out of the situation. As she sings about being in “their” secondhand smoke, nothing but unstable, as she’s comfortable drinking soda; “I don’t need a xanny to feel better,” Billie sings.
Billie spoke out about this visual on social media, where she said: “I’m very excited to share my directorial debut — visuals are so important to me and I’m very proud to be in a place where I can present my creative vision exactly as I want it. Thank you to everyone who has put their trust in me.” (Text Jordinna Joaquin)