-Our first guest is a seven-time Grammy winner
who has a brand-new number-one album out now
called "Happier Than Ever."
Here is Billie Eilish!
[ Cheers and applause ]
Whoa! Come on, now!
Ah, thank you so much for coming back on the show.
I appreciate it.
And congrats on having the number-one album
in the U.S. This is big.
-[ Cheers and applause ] -Thank you.
-The reviews have been amazing.
I don't know if you read reviews,
or what do you if -- What have you done?
The album's been out, what, a week?
Have you been paying attention?
Do you go like, "Ah, it's out. It's my thing."
-Uh, I don't know, really.
I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing.
I tried to kind of not look. -Yeah.
-Just because I was -- I was a-scared.
And I didn't want to -- -"I was a-scared," yeah.
-But it's been -- it's been such a good response that I --
I'm unbelievably, like, over-the-moon happy about,
so it's been pretty crazy this week.
-I know you're close to your fans and you --
You love them, and I feel like they just all went ballistic.
When they're like, "Yeah. New stuff!"
And they all just came back --
I mean, I've seen the stuff on the socials.
I've read the reviews. And it's just cool.
You have a great fan base,
and you give them a quality record, and they love it.
So congrats. -Thanks, Jimmy.
-Yeah. -It's crazy.
-Do you think -- When you're recording the album,
do you go, "Okay.
It's gonna be called 'Happier Than Ever.
I'm gonna do this.
I'm gonna dye my hair. I'm gonna go blonde."
Do you have this planned out or it all just kind of happen?
-It really just happened.
I, like, didn't know what I was going to do at all,
I mean, until, really, like almost when the album was over.
I didn't even know what it was gonna be called.
I didn't know what the vibe was gonna be.
I didn't know what the artwork should be.
And I knew, though, that I wanted it to be --
Like, I wanted it to feel very specific?
You know?
I wanted it to have a real -- you know, feeling to it,
and a real, like, aesthetic to it, I guess.
And then there was just one night
when I was listening to Julie London,
and it was raining, and my fire pit was on,
and I was like -- It just, like, hit me.
And I realized how I wanted the album to be portrayed
and how I wanted the visuals to look
and how I wanted it to feel and the colors.
And it all just, like, clicked right away. I don't know.
-And you direct your own videos or have done that,
which is extra pressure.
-Yes. -Why? Why put that --
Why put that more pressure on yourself?
-Why? [ Laughs ]
Um, you know, it's a lot of work.
So, you know, sometimes I wish
that I didn't want to do it so bad.
I just really want to do it. Like, I just -- There's not --
It never worked for me before, really.
I mean, sometimes it does.
It's just so much -- I don't know.
I feel like when you have your own idea
and you know what you want, sometimes it's just the --
The best way to go about it is to just do it yourself,
even though it takes much more out of you.
-You always bring us some fun things.
So, you have a little behind-the-scenes look
at you directing yourself in this video.
Take a look.
-First of all...
[ Cheers and applause ]
Don't you think you could have gotten a stunt double
to stand in the middle there?
Were you nervous?
-I -- No. I really wasn't nervous.
So that was for "NDA."
And it was 25 stunt drivers driving,
zooming past me, like this close to the sides of me.
And I -- It was so much fun.
And everybody was scared, and I loved it.
I literally, like -- That's my --
That's where I belong, is, like --
-In the middle of zooming cars? -Yeah.
Yeah. -That would frighten me.
I would be so frightened if I was anyone --
Going like, "No. This is an American treasure.
This is Billie Eilish standing in front
of all these zooming cars going back and forth.
And then kicking up dust?
That even makes it even more tricky.
Oh, no, I'm out."
-No. -Yeah.
You know what I wanted to ask you?
Because I read a bunch of articles about you,
and I know that you're very --
You have a thing. I don't know what it's called.
You're a very colorful person. You have a --
-Synesthesia. That's the word you're thinking.
-Yes. Say it again.
-Synesthesia. -Synesthesia.
So everything you see kind of has colors to it
and a number, maybe, and a letter or something?
-So, synesthesia, just real quick to sum it up, it's --
I don't know why it exists. But my brother has it.
I have it. My dad has it. A few people I know have it.
My mom does not. It's a thing in your brain
where you associate random stuff to everything.
So for instance, every day of the week
has a color, a number, a shape.
Sometimes things have a smell that I can think of
or a temperature or a texture.
And it means nothing.
I mean, literally, it doesn't mean anything.
But it inspires a bunch of stuff.
So, like, all of my videos
for the most part have to do with synesthesia,
all of my artwork, all of my -- everything I do live.
All the colors for each songs
is because those are the colors for those songs specifically.
And you -- You want to know? For you?
-Yes. When you see me or hear me or smell me...
[ Laughter ]
...what do you think?
What is my shape?
-[ Laughs ]
So, your shape is a...
like, vertical...
brown rectangle.
-A vertical round rectangle.
-Yeah, and I don't -- I mean, I can try to explain it.
-No.
-It doesn't make any sense.
So, like, J. So, your name's Jimmy, right?
-Yep.
-J is brown to me.
I don't know why. Jimmy is also brown.
M's feel brown to me. -M?
-And you also feel like that color, to me.
[ Laughter ]
-I feel -- -[ Scattered applause ]
-The audience seems to half agree that I'm brown.
[ Laughter ]
I feel like I'm more of a red.
-No. -[ Laughter ]
-You're right! You're right! I'm not gonna argue with you.
-But this is the funny thing about synesthesia,
is that it's so specific for me.
But, like, for instance, my dad and my brother
both have synesthesia.
They have the same thing for people,
and they completely disagree with me.
So we'll have conversations where my dad will be like --
You know, I'll be like,
"Oh, Tuesday is purple and a circle."
My dad is like, "No, it's not.
It's, you know, orange and it's a square," or whatever.
And we have these --
We have arguments about what is what.
-These are the greatest arguments
I've ever heard of in my life.
-They're very stupid. Very stupid.
-Billie, I want to ask you more stuff about the album
and the tour when we come back. Stick around, everybody.
More with Billie Eilish.