Billie Eilish Says an Older Version of 'Birds of a Feather' Was Worked on in the Back of an SUV in Brazil

Mar. 15, 2025

Billie Eilish in Los Angeles in February 2024.Photo:Monica Schipper/FilmMagic

Monica Schipper/FilmMagic

ForBillie Eilishand her brotherFinneas, creativity blossoms in unlikely places.During a Wednesday, Sept. 4 appearance onJimmy Kimmel Live!, the Grammy-winner shared a never-before-seen clip of herself and Finneas working in the back of an SUV.“This is a video I took on my phone in the back of the SUV in Brazil on the way to doing a show a year and a half ago,” Eilish, 22, told the host. “This is a very normal thing for me and Finneas. We’re always finding ourselves working in the most random places.“She added, “It’s fun because it’s so casual and normal and we were just in the back of this car and it’s Finneas' laptop.“In the video, Eilish and Finneas, 27, are working on an older version of “Birds of a Feather,” which was featured on her latest studio albumHit Me Hard and Soft. Eilish can be heard singing along and offering Finneas tips before his laptop dies and he disappointedly shuts it.“That song never felt right… there’s so many different versions,” the “Ocean Eyes” singer said. “It’s such an old version of the song that I don’t even really remember and it sounds so different and it’s just really amazing to see how far the song has come.“When Kimmel, 56, asked if she ever likes an older version of a song more than the one she released, Eilish said “it’s almost always horribly terrible.“Eilish — who was recently namedSpotify’s most-streamed monthly artist— and Finneas have opened up about the making ofHit Me Hard and Softin the past. During an interview withApple Music’s Zane Lowein May, the duo opened up about a “big fight” they had over “context and subject matter” of the LP.FINNEAS and Billie Eilish attend the GRAMMY Awards in Los Angeles in February 2024.Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic"We’d been writing these fragments of stuff and I felt… I’ve been proven wrong over and over, but this was the jag I was on that night. I was like, ‘Subject-wise, I’m not being led into what you’re actually feeling. And I think that there are real guards up,'” Finneas said.He added of the songwriting process, “Oftentimes in your life, you’re going through the thing that you’re going to write about later. And that was for sure happening to Billie at that point in time where I’d be like, ‘What’s this about?’ And she’d be like, ‘Nothing.'“Eilish chimed in and noted that her brother’s reaction at the time scared her, particularly when he said, “I don’t like doing this anymore. I don’t want to write music right now.““I used to be like, ‘[I] hate making music, [I] don’t want to make it, [I] don’t like making it,'” the singer said. “It’s frustrating. It’s irritating. I love having made it. I love performing it. I love when it’s good, but I really have always struggled with the process.“Then, she realized she was “finally enjoying the process” when Finneas was suddenly uninterested.“It was very interesting because I saw myself in that. I was like, ‘I have felt that way and you have always been the thing that keeps the ship moving, and now you feel that way. What does that mean for us? And what are we going to do?’“Eilish releasedHit Me Hard and Softon May 17.

ForBillie Eilishand her brotherFinneas, creativity blossoms in unlikely places.

During a Wednesday, Sept. 4 appearance onJimmy Kimmel Live!, the Grammy-winner shared a never-before-seen clip of herself and Finneas working in the back of an SUV.

“This is a video I took on my phone in the back of the SUV in Brazil on the way to doing a show a year and a half ago,” Eilish, 22, told the host. “This is a very normal thing for me and Finneas. We’re always finding ourselves working in the most random places.”

She added, “It’s fun because it’s so casual and normal and we were just in the back of this car and it’s Finneas’ laptop.”

In the video, Eilish and Finneas, 27, are working on an older version of “Birds of a Feather,” which was featured on her latest studio albumHit Me Hard and Soft. Eilish can be heard singing along and offering Finneas tips before his laptop dies and he disappointedly shuts it.

“That song never felt right… there’s so many different versions,” the “Ocean Eyes” singer said. “It’s such an old version of the song that I don’t even really remember and it sounds so different and it’s just really amazing to see how far the song has come.”

When Kimmel, 56, asked if she ever likes an older version of a song more than the one she released, Eilish said “it’s almost always horribly terrible.”

Eilish — who was recently namedSpotify’s most-streamed monthly artist— and Finneas have opened up about the making ofHit Me Hard and Softin the past. During an interview withApple Music’s Zane Lowein May, the duo opened up about a “big fight” they had over “context and subject matter” of the LP.

FINNEAS and Billie Eilish attend the GRAMMY Awards in Los Angeles in February 2024.Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

“We’d been writing these fragments of stuff and I felt… I’ve been proven wrong over and over, but this was the jag I was on that night. I was like, ‘Subject-wise, I’m not being led into what you’re actually feeling. And I think that there are real guards up,'” Finneas said.

He added of the songwriting process, “Oftentimes in your life, you’re going through the thing that you’re going to write about later. And that was for sure happening to Billie at that point in time where I’d be like, ‘What’s this about?’ And she’d be like, ‘Nothing.'”

Eilish chimed in and noted that her brother’s reaction at the time scared her, particularly when he said, “I don’t like doing this anymore. I don’t want to write music right now.”

“I used to be like, ‘[I] hate making music, [I] don’t want to make it, [I] don’t like making it,'” the singer said. “It’s frustrating. It’s irritating. I love having made it. I love performing it. I love when it’s good, but I really have always struggled with the process.”

Then, she realized she was “finally enjoying the process” when Finneas was suddenly uninterested.

“It was very interesting because I saw myself in that. I was like, ‘I have felt that way and you have always been the thing that keeps the ship moving, and now you feel that way. What does that mean for us? And what are we going to do?’”

Eilish releasedHit Me Hard and Softon May 17.

source: people.com