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We’re living through something of a boom time for queer pop (if not necessarily queer rights). Between Reneé Rapp, Chappell Roan, Muna, and Kehlani, the gay girls among us are eating good. There really couldn’t be a better time for one Billie Eilish to reintroduce herself as part of The Culture.
Of course, the 22-year-old singer has long been something of a gay icon for her blunt-voiced musical intonation and generally baggy wardrobe. But after coming out as queer late last year, Eilish elaborated on her sexuality in a recent interview with Rolling Stone, telling the magazine that she’s “been in love with girls for [her] whole life” – and her brand-new album Hit Me Hard and Soft is what sapphic dreams are made of. I mean, have you listened to the song “Lunch”? If not, see below, and then get back to me:
Not to play armchair music critic here, but from the opening beats of “Lunch” (which, to my mind, sound a little bit like Le Tigre – nothing gayer than referencing Kathleen Hanna!), it’s clear that a new queen of the bisexual bop has been crowned. Then, of course, there are the lyrics: “I could eat that girl for lunch / Yeah, she dances on my tongue / Tastes like she might be the one / And I could never get enough / I could buy her so much stuff / It’s a craving, not a crush.” Eilish told Rolling Stone that writing the song was “actually part of what helped me become who I am, to be real”, adding, “I wrote some of it before even doing anything with a girl, and then wrote the rest after.”
There are plenty of other great songs on Hit Me Hard and Soft, including album opener “Skinny”, a heartrending anti-ode to diet culture, but it’s “Lunch” that I’m most looking forward to adding to the Pride playlist I blast long after the month of June has concluded. What can I say: I’m glad Eilish has officially joined the queer pop fold – if only because we’ve needed some new VTBs (Very Talented Bisexuals) to join the ranks of Janelle Monáe, Halsey, and the late, great David Bowie.
This article was originally published on British Vogue.
