I do not care whether or not you consider yourself a Billie Eilish fan — Billie Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard and Soft” isn’t just the best album of the year; it’s an experience. This album is about you, your emotions, your relationships, heartbreak, and healing.

Music has always been important to me because it lets me feel emotions you can’t capture with words. “Hit Me Hard and Soft” isn’t just Eilish telling a story of her exes — it’s her capturing the torments of love, the consuming nature of relationships, and the weight of identity, especially for many girls like me all over the world. Each of the following songs feels like a reflection of my own emotions — of heartbreak that lingers, but also love that lifts you up.

The first song on the album is SKINNY, an immersive and mellow piece about her struggles with the public and the media. Beneath that, I think that SKINNY is a portrayal of self-image, and the suffocating physical expectations put upon young women. Every girl who has ever felt the weight of societal beauty standards can find herself in this song.

Then comes BIRDS OF A FEATHER, which perfectly captures the unwavering commitment you (hopefully) start to feel early into dating. The line, “I don’t know what I’m crying for” calls back to CHIHIRO, highlighting all the emotional contradictions that come with love. But in hindsight, the song makes later tracks like L’AMOUR DE MA VIE hit even harder, because it foreshadows the crushing realization that this feeling of security was a lie all along.

One of my absolute favorites, WILDFLOWER, dives into the struggles of lacking trust for your partner. The song’s seamless shift from a soft acoustic guitar intro to an intense, fast-paced beat captures the rage and emotion of heartbreak. The lyric, “I know that you love me, you don’t need to remind me” is gut-wrenching, reflecting the internal battle between self-doubt and reassurance. This song, more than any other, has helped me navigate my own moments of insecurity when I felt like I had no one to confide in.

We then reach L’AMOUR DE MA VIE — inarguably my all-time favorite track. The lyric “Thought I was depressed, or losing my mind, my stomach upset almost all of the time, but after I left, it was obvious why,” expresses the freeing feeling that comes after moving on from someone. The second half of the song is more upbeat, conveying the anger that comes with learning the other person has moved on quickly. Through lyrics such as, “You said you’d never fall in love again because of me, then you moved on immediately,” Eilish disses her previous exes. It perfectly captures the feeling of moving on — not just from a person, but from the toxic grip they had on your mind.

Finally, BLUE closes the album on a bittersweet note. It ties everything together, revisiting themes from earlier songs, as if reflecting on the entire emotional journey. The song perfectly encapsulates the conflicting emotions of doing what’s best for yourself while still feeling the weight of heartbreak. Unlike L’AMOUR DE MA VIE, which is fueled by anger and resentment, BLUE is about acceptance, which is the biggest skill I have learned from relationships.

This album has provided an opportunity for so many teens all over the world to relate to feelings they may have otherwise experienced alone. It’s about the many stages of love and ultimately, self-growth. So if any of this resonates with you — no need to like Billie Eilish — I urge you to go listen.