It might be a little mind-bending to think about considering how ubiquitous she was last year, but Billie Eilish hasn’t released a full-length project since 2021’s Happier Than Ever. Despite being two years removed from her last album, 2023 was a banner year for Eilish thanks to her participation in the soundtrack for the Barbie movie. Her contribution, “What Was I Made For?” not only peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 but it also won Eilish a Song of the Year Grammy at this year’s awards, bringing her total to nine.
With all that heat behind her, fans might be wondering if she’ll finally follow up Happier Than Ever with a new album this year, and she just made a promising revelation on that front on social media. Posting a photo dump on Instagram, she captioned her carousel simply, “my album is mastered.”
Okay, so… what does that mean? Mastering is often the final step in the process of recording an album, as it can only be done once all the songs have been completed and confirmed. Simply put, it means an engineer is balancing the audio levels across the tracks so that the actual sound is cohesive, which is part of making an album sound like an album and not just a compilation of songs recorded at different times.
Of course, after the mastering is complete, there are still various other steps to consider, like shooting videos and designing a rollout strategy (which might be done before the mastering but also might be done after the album is completed to ensure consistency of presentation). In the modern business ecosystem, you might also have to ensure sponsorships and licensing partnerships are all in place for maximum visibility. Basically, Billie’s album might well be finished, but it could also be a while before she and her label are ready to release it. Still, it’s nice to know there’s something to look forward to, even if we might not see it for a while yet.
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