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The theme No Time to Die won a Grammy in March.
It was pitch black.
I was just, literally, holding a mic.
The album netted billions of streams andalmost as many Grammysand cemented Eilish as a generation-defining pop act.
The result is a big,bigballad.
Shell need that power, too.
(It was originally set to open worldwide in April.)
She is in Burberry to the headband.
He cant quite recall.
They were on a parked tour bus in the lower levels of an echoey arena.
Wed been telling our team for years that we want to do something with Bond, says Eilish.
But Eilishs aesthetics have always been a bit more subversive than her music.
Broccoli had flown out specifically for the occasion; she was quickly charmed.
They were given parts of the script and went about the business of creating a theme.
And we actually had pretty bad writers block.
Its the first thing you hear in the song, Eilish says.
Immediately we were like, Ohhhh.
It just suddenly made sense.
And then we wrote the rest.
But when he heard Eilish and Finneass offering, he knew it was the one: Thats the vibe.
We experimented around, says Zimmer.
We experimented for a while, Eilish says.
We experimented with 70 people, Zimmer says, laughing.
With Billie and Finneass input, Zimmer eventually assembled two wholly different string arrangements for the song.
The new pals also took some time to mess around.
Microphones were being moved around.
Sheet music was being shuffled.
Throughout the day of our interview, Eilish has shown an occasional weariness with the pressures of the job.
(A dutiful big brother, he doesnt shove her feet off.)
She looks at me blankly, then admits, Iwasnt listening for the last five minutes.
Isnt that cute?!
It just went on and on!, she says.
Zimmer: It was after you saw the film.
It sort of allowed you to be let off the leash.
It had to go somewhere.
I had to do it.
The collaboration didnt end there.
As Zimmer continued to work on the score, he solicited their advice.
He would send pieces of music, then ask for input: variations, tweaks, suggestions.
I would text Finneas, Can I just get a little da-da-da whatever?
Its been really fun, says Eilish.
Hes just like, Can we get a little this?
And we immediately record and send it to him.
In a funny way, our styles are not that dissimilar, Zimmer continues.
You record at home.
So the whole score is homemade.
Billie and Finneas have been touring for about three years, since breaking out with the song Ocean Eyes.
I have to name-drop, Zimmer says by way of explanation.
Johnny, my best friend, was the one who changed my life.
He meansJohnny Marrfrom the Smiths, whom Zimmer also enlisted for guitar work on No Time to Die.
Him andPharrellsat me down one day and went, Youve got to stop hiding behind a screen.
You have to do things in real time.
You have to look an audience in the eye.
Since then, Zimmer has done elaborate full orchestra performances of his movie scores all over the world.
Finneas laughs at the thought.
Oh, we dont give Hans tips.
We just ask for eternal wisdom.
Despite the age gap of decades, theres a mutual respect thats lovely to witness.
Were always starting with a blank page.
And I check with myself every morning: Do I want to go to the studio?
Do I want to go make music today?
I slithered into this everyone cracks up.
No, I applied for film composer!
Zimmer shouts, smiling.
Come on, I slithered into this.
And I love it and I never want to lose the sense of loving it.
Finneas picks up the thread.
Because, yeah, we did the thing.
But I love it, so lets just keep going.
The first album was pretty pure in its intention.
We didnt set out to write a darling album.
Our only target was to make an album that we liked, to play live.
I think thats all were gonna do for the second.
All the other things are side effects.
You cant aim for those.
I totally respect this process, Finneas says.
Billie has had a really big year press wise.
Our album did well, which is awesome.
On the merits ofthat.
