When you disagree about the latest Bond song...
By Tania C and Jimmy G
“When two of the team at Run That Again disagreed heavily with each other about the latest Bond song, we had no choice but to let them argue. Here’s why you should either love or hate Eilish’s No Time To Die.”
[Tania C]
The Guardian: Billie Eilish: No Time to Die review – a Bond theme befitting the Craig era.
The Telegraph: Billie Eilish, No Time to Die, Bond theme review: Downbeat noir is spine-tingling
Am I missing something? Yes ok Billie Eilish does a good job within her indie pop/alt rock vocals but she’s let down by the production in my opinion, which is fairly dull (sorry Grammy-award winning Finneas).
Anyone who knows me knows I’m a huge O’Connells fan but dare I say it, knowing all I know about the sparkling reviews of this track (the vid was viewed over 11 million times within the first 24 hours), I think it’s not really all that memorable.
“A Bond song isn’t meant to grow on you...It’s meant to instantly smash you in the face.”
“But it’s a grower!” I hear you say.
A Bond Song isn’t meant to grow on you. Shirley Bassey’s Diamonds are Forever, Adele’s Skyfall, even Sam Smith’s Writing on the Wall are not growers. It’s meant to instantly smash you in the face. Honestly, the concept of the grower should not apply to Bond.
I hear what you’re saying Jimmy G. But maybe, just maybe, No Time To Die should be killed off as the worst bond song ever.
[Jimmy G]
Look Tania C, I’m no Billie Eilish superfan, honestly, I still don't quite get the hype behind the gargantuan hit of last year’s Bad Guy, however I think her and Finneas haves hit it out of the park with “No Time To Die”; a song that combines the dark, bedroom-production-studio feel of Eilish with an epic string arrangement from Hans Zimmer (The acclaimed composer has been mostly absent from the critical consensus of the track).
“No Time To Die...combines the dark, bedroom-production-studio feel of Eilish with an epic string arrangement...”
Sure, it lacks the “oomph” factor of other Bond tunes, it doesn’t have the incredible crescendo of Skyfall nor the guitar gut-punch of the late Chris Cornell’s “You Know My Name” but what we get is a song that oozes atmosphere and tone. It’s not only got lyrics that will predictably nicely tie into the plot of the highly anticipated film with “The blood you bleed is the blood you owe” and “faces from my past return” but works as a glimpse into the psyche of the world’s most famous super-spy.
Sure, it may not hold up quite as well on mainstream radio and pop playlists, but even judged in a vacuum without the context of it being a Bond-song, this is a noir-inspired track that perfectly captures feelings of betrayal and heartbreak in musical form.
As Eilish’s lyrics weave with the perfect guitar strum and minor chords of the iconic Monty Norman bond theme, the song builds to a stunning climax with Eilish belting out a wonderful vocal as the power of the orchestra kicks in. It’s a goosebumpingly wonderful moment of music. I’m not a fan of hyperbole, but I think this stands up there with Skyfall, Goldfinger and Goldeneye, as one of the best Bond songs yet.