Ilomilo (song)

"Ilomilo" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by American singer Billie Eilish from her debut studio album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019). The song was sent to Italian contemporary hit radio stations on April 10, 2020, by Universal Music Group, as the album's seventh single. Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell co-wrote it, while the latter handled the production. Musically an electropop track with ska-influenced instrumentation, the song was heavily inspired by the puzzle video game of the same name. The track also references "Bury a Friend", its predecessor on the album track list.

"Ilomilo"
Single by Billie Eilish
from the album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
ReleasedApril 10, 2020 (2020-04-10)
GenreElectropop
Length2:36
LabelUniversal
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Finneas O'Connell
Billie Eilish singles chronology
"No Time to Die"
(2020)		 "Ilomilo"
(2020)

Eilish's lyrics address several topics including the fear of separation, while her distorted and stuttering voice is sung over a similarly deformed bass. For promotional purposes, the song was performed live during Eilish's 2019 When We All Fall Asleep Tour and her Where Do We Go? World Tour in 2020. On April 24, 2020, an animated visualizer was released for the song. When the album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? became available, the song reached number 62 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and charted within the top 40 in Canada and Australia. It was certified gold in each of these countries.

Background and release
Eilish's brother Finneas O'Connell (pictured) contributed to the song's writing and production.

On March 29, 2019, "Ilomilo" was released as the eleventh track on Eilish's debut studio album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?[1] The song was sent to Italian contemporary hit radio stations on April 10, 2020, by Universal Music Group as the album's seventh single,[2] followed by its release to US alternative radio on May 26 through Darkroom and Interscope Records.[3] "Ilomilo" was written by the singer and her brother, Finneas O'Connell, who also produced it. Mastering and mixing was handled by studio personnel, John Greenham and Rob Kinelski, respectively. Casey Cuayo is credited as studio personnel and as an additional mixer.[4]

Composition and lyrical interpretation

Sam Prance of AllMusic described the track's genre as "twisted funhouse" electropop.[5] The New York Times's Jon Pareles noted the use of a "briskly plinking, near-ska beat" in its instrumentation.[6] According to sheet music website Musicnotes.com, "Ilomilo" is moderately fast at 120 beats per minute (BPM) and is played in the key of C minor. Eilish's vocals range between C3 to Ab4.[7] Throughout the song, her voice is distorted to sound like she is stuttering, and her vocal track is layered over a similarly deformed-sounding bass.[8][9]

Eilish revealed the puzzle video game of the same name, whose goal is to reunite two characters named "Ilo" and "Milo" who hug afterwards, is a major inspiration behind the song.[10][11] Music critics have associated its lyrics with the fear of separation (in lines such as "I don't wanna be lonely" and "I can't lose another life"), to a failed relationship ("I just wanted to protect you / But now I'll never get to") and suicidal thoughts ("I might break / If you're gonna die not by mistake").[6][10] Chris DeVille, writing for Stereogum, noted that the song finds Eilish "in a world wrecked by tragedy".[12] The lyrics in the second verse of "Ilomilo"—"The friends I've had to bury / They keep me up at night"—reference the single "Bury a Friend" (2019), the song's predecessor on When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, which ends with the opening instrumental section of "Ilomilo". Elaborating on this in an interview on MTV, O'Connell said the two songs only referenced each other for the purpose of making the album "cohesive", and that they were not linked in any other way.[11]

Reception and promotion

When it was released, "Ilomilo" was praised by Insider's Libby Torres, who called the track "catchy" and felt its lyrics "[do] [their] best to parse the emptiness left by someone important", as "insanely relatable".[13] Following the release of When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, "Ilomilo" debuted at number 62 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[14] At the same time, Eilish broke the record for the most simultaneous Hot 100 entries for a female artist.[15] The song also reached modest peaks in Australia,[16] Canada,[17] Germany,[18] Sweden[19] and the Netherlands among others.[20] It has since been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Music Canada (MC) and the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).[21][22][23]

To promote "Ilomilo", Eilish performed it at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April,[24] at the Glastonbury Festival in June,[25] and at Pukkelpop in August 2019.[26] "Ilomilo" was included on the setlist of Eilish's 2019 When We All Fall Asleep Tour,[27] and on her 2020 Where Do We Go? World Tour.[28] In April 2020, Eilish and O'Connell sang an acoustic version of the song during a 50-minute Verizon livestream.[29] An animated visualizer to accompany the song, depicting deep sea creatures, was released to Eilish's YouTube channel on April 24, 2020.[30]

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[4]

  • Casey Cuayo – assistant mixer, studio personnel
  • Billie Eilish – vocals, songwriter
  • John Greenham – mastering engineer, studio personnel
  • Rob Kinelski – mixer, studio personnel
  • Finneas O'Connell – producer, songwriter

Charts
Chart (2019–2020) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[16] 23
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[17] 38
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[31] 32
Estonia (Eesti Tipp-40)[32] 13
Germany (Official German Charts)[18] 98
Greece (IFPI)[33] 25
Hungary (Stream Top 40)[34] 24
Italy (FIMI)[35] 94
Latvia (LAIPA)[36] 15
Lithuania (AGATA)[37] 13
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[20] 63
Portugal (AFP)[38] 55
Russia Airplay (Tophit)[39] 62
Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[40] 19
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[19] 63
UK Streaming (Official Charts Company)[41] 37
US Billboard Hot 100[14] 62
US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[42] 31
US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[43] 32

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[23] Gold 35,000
Canada (Music Canada)[22] Gold 40,000
United States (RIAA)[21] Gold 500,000

sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history
Region Date Format Label Ref.
Italy April 10, 2020
[2]
United States May 26, 2020
  • Alternative radio
[3]

References
  1. "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? by Billie Eilish on iTunes". iTunes Store. Archived from the original on July 4, 2019. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  2. "Billie Eilish – "Ilomilo" | (Radio Date: 10/04/2020)". Radiodate.it. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  3. "Alternative Radio: Future Releases". All Access. Archived from the original on May 9, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  4. "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (Credits) – Billie Eilish". Tidal. Archived from the original on February 15, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  5. Prance, Sam. "Billie Eilish When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?". AllMusic. Archived from the original on March 29, 2019. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  6. Parles, Jon (March 29, 2019). "Billie Eilish Redefines Teen-Pop Stardom on a Haunted, Heartfelt Debut Album". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 21, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  7. "Billie Eilish "Ilomilo" Sheet Music". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  8. Smith, Thomas (March 29, 2019). "Billie Eilish – 'When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?' review". NME. Archived from the original on April 10, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  9. Lipshutz, Jason (March 29, 2019). "A Pop Star Is Born: Billie Eilish Arrives With a Beautifully Flawed Debut Album". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 13, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  10. Prance, Sam (March 29, 2019). "Billie Eilish reveals the adorable story and meaning behind her 'Ilomilo' lyrics". PopBuzz. Archived from the original on March 21, 2020. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  11. Roth, Madeline (April 4, 2019). "Billie Eilish's When We All Fall Asleep: A Complete Breakdown from Finneas O'Connell". MTV. Archived from the original on April 13, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  12. DeVille, Chris (July 14, 2019). "Billie Eilish's Time Is Now". Stereogum. Archived from the original on April 13, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  13. Ahlgrim, Callie (March 18, 2020). "Every Billie Eilish song, ranked". Insider. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  14. "Billie Eilish Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  15. Ahlgrim, Callie (April 4, 2020). "14 records Billie Eilish has already broken". Insider. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  16. "Australian-charts.com – Billie Eilish – Ilomilo". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  17. "Billie Eilish Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  18. "Offiziellecharts.de – Billie Eilish – Ilomilo". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  19. "Swedishcharts.com – Billie Eilish – Ilomilo". Singles Top 100. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  20. "Dutchcharts.nl – Billie Eilish – Ilomilo" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  21. "American single certifications – Billie Eilish – Ilomilo". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved April 4, 2020. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
  22. "Canadian single certifications – Billie Eilish – Ilomilo". Music Canada. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  23. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2019 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  24. Powers, Shad (December 10, 2019). "Second time around even better for Billie Eilish as Weekend 2 set is more powerful, raw". The Desert Sun. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  25. Saval, Marina (July 1, 2019). "Billie Eilish Mesmerizes Glastonbury Crowd With Life-Affirming Performance". Variety. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  26. "Hysterie tijdens Billie Eilish, maar perfect is het nog lang niet" [Hysteria during Billie Eilish concert, but it isn't perfect yet]. Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). August 18, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  27. Saw, Yadana (April 25, 2019). "Review: Billie Eilish at Spark Arena – "a shared dream"". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  28. Young, Alex (March 10, 2020). "Billie Eilish Launches "Where Do We Go? World Tour"". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on March 11, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  29. Ahlgrim, Callie (April 24, 2020). "Watch Billie Eilish perform hits like 'Bad Guy' acoustically and explain the meanings of her songs in an intimate, 50-minute livestream". Insider. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  30. "Billie Eilish – Ilomilo (Visualizer)". YouTube. Archived from the original on April 27, 2020. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  31. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201914 into search. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  32. Nestor, Siim (April 9, 2019). "Eesti Tipp-40 Muusikas - Eesti lugude tabelis on uus number üks!". Eesti Ekspress (in Estonian). Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  33. "IFPI Greece International Singles Chart". IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  34. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Stream Top 40 slágerlista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  35. "Top Singoli – Classifica settimanale WK 26" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  36. "Mūzikas Patēriņa Tops/ 14. nedēļa" [Music consumption ranking/ Week 14] (in Latvian). LAIPA. Archived from the original on October 10, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  37. "Savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" [Most listened-to this week (Top 100)] (in Lithuanian). AGATA. April 5, 2019. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  38. "Portuguesecharts.com – Billie Eilish – Ilomilo". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  39. "Russia Airplay Chart for 2020-05-29." Tophit. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  40. "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201914 into search. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  41. "Official Audio Streaming Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  42. "Billie Eilish Chart History (Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  43. "Billie Eilish Chart History (Hot Rock Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
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