Billie Eilish - No Time To Die review: Luxurious, understated theme has its finger on the pulse

Subtle: Billie Eilish is the youngest ever artist to record a Bond theme
AFP via Getty Images
David Smyth14 February 2020

The James Bond theme was unveiled last night: No Time To Die by Billie Eilish, destined for the opening sequence of the film of the same name in April.

Securing the services of Eilish and her co-writing brother Finneas O’Connell was a smart move from the filmmakers, especially when today’s premier femme fatale, Lana Del Rey, would have been the obvious choice. Eilish is the hottest singer right now after winning five Grammys last month, having put a creepy spin on electronic pop music with her macabre lyrics and whisper-in-your-ear vocals.

At 18, she’s the youngest person to sing a Bond theme but that doesn’t mean she breaks the rules with teenage recklessness. A Bond film, and accordingly its music, is like your wedding: you want it to feel unique but at the same time there about 200 conventions to which you are handcuffed.

So that means there’s no sign of her clever synth concoctions and indeed not much evidence of Johnny Marr, who’s apparently in there somewhere on guitar. Instead the sound is dominated by luxurious washes of strings from composer Hans Zimmer. Eilish’s sad, understated vocals suit the sound, which is less overblown than usual. “Fool me once, fool me twice/Are you death or paradise?”

Having generally given the impression that it’s uncool to put any effort in, she hits a surprising big note near the close but then it’s back to the softly-softly approach.

The film itself is unlikely to be so subtle. Though Bond himself may look increasingly anachronistic, musically, this time he has his finger on the pulse.

007 James Bond Theme Singers - In pictures

1/23

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in