Happier Than Ever

Eilish wrote it with Finneas, who produced it and played every instrument. They recorded weekly in the basement studio of his Los Angeles home, starting with My Future and ending with Oxytocin, and the title track was the first song written for it. She said she wanted a timeless record, and named jazz singers she grew up listening to, Julie London, Peggy Lee and Frank Sinatra. She also said her label had no input. Sixteen songs made the album, and two others were left off. Not My Responsibility is a spoken-word interlude that debuted on the 2020 Where Do We Go? World Tour.

Seven singles were released, and My Future, Therefore I Am and Your Power each reached the US top ten. A concert film, Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles, was shot at the Hollywood Bowl without an audience and released on Disney+ on 3 September 2021. The world tour of 72 concerts began on 3 February 2022 in New Orleans and ended on 2 April 2023 in Guadalajara.

Reception

Metacritic scored it 86 from 27 reviews. Alexis Petridis of the Guardian wrote that the sound "feels more subdued, less flashy", and said the album's main subject is fame and what it does to the person at the eye of the storm. Pitchfork's Quinn Moreland said it sings with unsparing honesty about her rapid ascent to stardom. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 238,000 units and stayed there for three weeks. It also went to number one in the UK, where its first week was 39,000 units, and in France, for the first time.