The sound of 2019, a Glastonbury power house who had to shift stages because of her popularity last summer, a creator of riffs that have entered pop culture, the youngest musical force to take on the baton, a multi Grammy nominee, a force of social media might, a musos favourite and a totally 21st century sound for a 21st century Bond… James Bond’s newest musical co-star will be the American performer Billie Eilish. Tasked with joining an illustrious and specific alumni of singers and groups responsible for Bond’s highly cherished and sought-after vocal overtures, Eilish will be performing the title tune for the twenty-fifth forthcoming James Bond bullet, No Time to Die.
“We are excited to announce that Billie and FINNEAS have written an incredibly powerful and moving song for No Time To Die, which has been impeccably crafted to work within the emotional story of the film.”
Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, producers of No Time To Die.
In a new song penned by her fellow Grammy nominated [and Eilish’s elder brother] FINNEAS and recorded very recently, the title track has been produced by Darkroom / Interscope Records. The Darkroom is the marketing wing of Interscope Records which focuses on creative developments, artist strategies and audience engagement. The Darkroom not only been a leading force for new artists around the world, it is also part of the Universal Music Group. Universal Pictures are handling the non-US theatrical distribution for No Time to Die. Interscope are part of the Geffen musical empire and have a twenty-one year legacy of overseeing and guiding a whole slew of creative minded agencies and producing partners. A talent like Billie Eilish not only fits that musical template. It makes total sense that as 007 enters his 007th cinematic decade shaking things up and moving forward with the title song must always reflect the new sounds, new voices and new attitudes that will take that unique Bond sound forward.
Eilish’s online presence alone is beyond staggering. The traffic for her official video for ‘Bad Guy’ alone has amassed 717,000,000 hits and the track itself has already entered pop culture parlance with many uses already across commercials and movie trailers, including Bombshell. That ‘Bad Guy’ riff is curiously one of great retro, late Sixties TV cartoon show playfulness and has been everywhere for months. Of course, Eilish marks a new era of marketing scope (one of the main tasks of the Bond song anthem). These casting choices are always both commercial and artistic, and have been since the popular chart crooner Matt Monro first sung From Russia with Love in 1963. The history of the Bond song is the history of global pop. Shirley Bassey circa 1964, Nancy Sinatra, Paul McCartney and Wings, Lulu, Duran Duran, A-ha, Adele, Sam Smith, KD Lang, Sheryl Crow, Alicia Keys, Madonna, Tom Jones, Jack White and Sheena Easton have all been popular chart names given onscreen and cultural immortality by singing a 007 song. They have also been pop singers. And whilst Bond has also rightfully been entertained by the veteran entertainers (Tina Turner, Louis Armstrong, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Bono & The Edge), the aural template of Bond often moves forward through the populist sounds it brings to the fold.
“It feels crazy to be a part of this in every way. To be able to score the theme song to a film that is part of such a legendary series is a huge honour. James Bond is the coolest film franchise ever to exist. I’m still in shock.”
Billie Eilish
But what of Eilish’s sound? Not only have all the world’s must-watch lists included her over the last year or so, she is not going to be Bond’s first pop princess. Fiercely independent, refreshingly self-willed, refusing to bow to market forces views of women and with a rare strength in someone so young to not overproduce a performance or cue, Eilish is a spiky, brilliantly jagged but right choice for Bond. With her emotionally pitched anthem, Eilish could well renovate the sound of Bond once again by yielding the next sound of Bond. The best 007 title tunes do not sound like 007 title tunes. Shirley Bassey’s ‘Goldfinger’ was not a Bond sound in 1964. Likewise, Paul McCartney & Wing’s ‘Live and Let Die’, Duran Duran’s ‘A View to a Kill’ and A-ha’s ‘The Living Daylights’ were as much pop operas of their day as they were forwarding Bond songs. Even the Academy Award winning might of Adele’s ‘Skyfall’ and Sam Smith’s ‘Writing’s on the Wall’ were deliberately produced and framed in that golden era Bond sound with those John Barry strings and brass, trapped bird lyrics and languid rhythms. Whilst Eilish is equipped to repeat that success (no pressure Billie at the 2021 Oscars), hers will be a fresher, spunkier, but yet structurally solid work.
“It feels crazy to be a part of this in every way”, remarks Eilish. “To be able to score the theme song to a film that is part of such a legendary series is a huge honour. James Bond is the coolest film franchise ever to exist. I’m still in shock”. Her brother FINNEAS now adds“writing the theme song for a Bond film is something we’ve been dreaming about doing our entire lives. There is no more iconic pairing of music and cinema than the likes of Goldfinger and Live And Let Die. We feel so, so lucky to play a small role in such a legendary franchise. Long live 007!”.
“There are a chosen few who record a Bond theme. I am a huge fan of Billie and FINNEAS”, remarks No Time to Die’s director Cary Joji Fukunaga. He continues, “their creative integrity and talent are second to none and I cannot wait for audiences to hear what they’ve brought – a fresh new perspective whose vocals will echo for generations to come”. Billie Eilish released her debut album When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? in March 2019. The Album Of The Year nominated full-length debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in the U.S as well as seventeen additional countries around the world upon release. She scored her first No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 and at Top 40 radio with Song and Record of the Year nominated ‘Bad Guy’. When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? was the highest selling debut album of 2019 and biggest North American debut of the 2010s hitting No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album charts for an additional two non-consecutive weeks since its release. When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? was written, produced and recorded entirely by Billie Eilish and brother FINNEAS in their childhood home of Highland Park, Los Angeles. FINNEAS has been nominated for five Grammy Awards for the album and work – including the prestigious Producer of the Year (Non Classical). Billie’s sold out 2020 arena Where Do We Go? world tour starts on March 9th 2019.
“We are excited to announce that Billie and FINNEAS have written an incredibly powerful and moving song for No Time To Die, which has been impeccably crafted to work within the emotional story of the film.”
Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, producers No Time To Die.
The song will be released on Darkroom/Interscope Records. No Time To Die is in theatres globally from 2 April 2020 in the U.K. through Universal Pictures International and in the U.S on April 10, from MGM via their United Artists Releasing banner.
