Hit Me Hard and Soft is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish, released on May 17, 2024, through Darkroom and Interscope Records.

Eilish co-wrote Hit Me Hard and Soft with her brother and frequent collaborator Finneas O'Connell, who also produced the album.

[3] Upon release, Hit Me Hard and Soft received universal acclaim from critics, praising the production, songwriting, and vocal performances.

It topped the charts in over 20 countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

"Birds of a Feather" was released as the second single from the album to great commercial success, peaking at number two on Billboard Hot 100 and in the top ten of several charts.

[5][6] Released on July 30, 2021,[7] Happier Than Ever was met with critical acclaim and commercial success, topping the Billboard 200[8] and nominated twice at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.

[1] The album art, which was shot by underwater photographer William Drumm,[15] depicts Eilish falling through a door frame into dark blue water.

Eilish described the photoshoot, which took six hours to complete and involved her being repeatedly submerged for two minutes at a time with a weight attached to her shoulders and without goggles or nose plugs,[16] as being one of the most painful experiences of her life.

[22] Eilish added her followers to an Instagram feature that lets limited accounts see exclusive stories, called "Close Friends".

Eilish previewed the songs "Lunch", "L'Amour de Ma Vie", and "Chihiro" during a surprise DJ set at Coachella on April 13, 2024.

[30] On May 15 and May 16, Eilish held a listening party events for fans respectively at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and Kia Forum in Inglewood, in both cases premiering the album in its entirety.

[42] In a five-star review, Helen Brown of The Independent praised how the album "whispers its way through a marvelous maze of music to deliver some big emotional wallops.

"[47] Neil McCormick from The Daily Telegraph agreed in his own five-star assessment, opining that the "heartbreak masterpiece" is "rich, strange, smart, sad and wise enough" to stand in comparison with Joni Mitchell's Blue (1971).

[45] Writing for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis complimented Hit Me Hard and Soft's "beautiful" melodies and "distinctive" lyrical touches, but wondered if some of its elements could be "a little too opaque" for its own good.

[46] NME's Thomas Smith felt that although Eilish wrote the album for herself, she created a record that will "resonate harder" than anything she has done before.

[54] Top five by BBC,[55] Billboard,[56] Entertainment Weekly,[57] Rolling Stone,[58] Complex,[59] DIY,[60] FLOOD,[61] Hot Press,[62] The Boston Globe,[63] The Guardian,[64] Slant,[65] and The Forty Five,[66] and within the top ten by The New Yorker,[67] NME,[68] Los Angeles Times,[69] Mondo Sonoro,[70] The Sunday Times,[71] KCRW,[72] People[73] Esquire[74] Les Inrocks,[75] and Dork.

Although it is her first studio album to not debut at number one, it marked Eilish's largest first-week units in the US, as well as highest pure sales.

[131] Hit Me Hard and Soft spent ten non-consecutive weeks atop the chart and was certified 2× Platinum by the RMNZ.