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Billie Eilish hasn’t been able to tour despite being one of the hottest artists in the music industry due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, she teamed up with her brother/musical collaborator Finneas to give fans a fresh new performance.
Eilish and Finneas performed two songs from home for NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series, an opportunity to show off stripped-down, intimate versions of popular songs. .
During the set, the two performed “My Future” and “Everything I Wanted.”
“I’m honored to be here, we have both been watching [‘Tiny Desk’] for years,” Eilish said, as transcribed by Variety. “Quarantine’s been weird — I know you all feel the same, it’s been weird, we don’t know how long it’s gonna go. There’s barely anything that feels like there’s any hope in.
“But I think the future is something to be super hopeful in, and the unknown, and what is to come. We’ll be okay one day — maybe not right now, but that’s what’s making me hold on.”
The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing NPR Music’s Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It’s the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space.
While the performance is from home, you will notice that Eilish’s backdrop is identical — minus one small detail — to the Tiny Desk Series set. So how were they able to pull that off? The secret is revealed at the end of the performance as the camera zooms out and you see it is simply a backdrop held up by 2x4s.
“Of course, due to safety concerns, even the NPR Music staff can’t set foot in the building that houses Bob Boilen’s desk. But if you look over Eilish’s shoulder, there’s no mistaking the signs that she’s appearing at the Tiny Desk in its present-day form: On the last day before staff began working from home, I took home the Green Bay Packers helmet that sat on the top shelf — the one Harry Styles had signed a few weeks earlier — for safe keeping. In this performance, that spot is empty,” the YouTube description reads.
“Honestly, it’s best that you watch the whole video to experience the extent of the technical feat — which, in the spirit of Eilish’s Saturday Night Live performance, they’re willing to share with you. And thankfully, we still have our ways of photographing the desk, even if the room has fallen silent.”
Well done, everyone.
