Billie’s 2020 hot streak continues with her sultry James Bond theme.
The first two months of Billie Eilish’s 2020 have been busier than most people’s entire year: In January, the 18-year-old pop star became the youngest person ever to win Album of the Year at the Grammys. Two weeks later, on February 9, she performed the seminal Beatles song “Yesterday” at the Oscars during the In Memoriam segment. (She also became the awards’ best meme, thanks to her delightfully memorable reactions to the ceremony’s most-discussed moments.) And on Thursday, she released her original theme song for the upcoming latest film in the James Bond franchise, No Time to Die.
Also called “No Time to Die,” the song fits right into the Billie Eilish oeuvre: It’s a melancholic, whispery lamentation of the end to a relationship. Or perhaps it’s a begrudging recognition that the relationship in question was poisoned from the get-go. (Hey, by the way — happy Valentine’s Day, y’all!)
No Time to Die is both the 25th James Bond movie and the final one to star Daniel Craig as Britain’s top spy — so its theme song seems to hint that having “no time to die” could be a misdirection. The piano ballad is the closest I can think of that a pop star like Eilish has come to releasing a dirge as a mainstream single.
“You were my life, but life is far away from fair,” she sings. And, later: “Fool me once, fool me twice / Are you death or paradise?” A good question, and likely one that Bond will be asking himself in the film.
Regardless, “No Time to Die” is a moving showcase for Eilish’s precocious talent. Critics who believe her vocal range is limited will be forced to reconsider — this woman can belt, as she proves on what may be her sultriest track ever.
Will “No Time to Die” net Eilish an Oscar nomination in her future, putting her on the path to an EGOT? Considering the excellent awards track record for James Bond theme songs in the past decade, the odds are in her favor.
No Time to Die will come out in theaters April 10. You can listen to the theme song in the video above, or on streaming platforms like Spotify.
Author: Allegra Frank
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