Billie Eilish has dropped the recently-teased video for “NDA”, the latest single from her forthcoming album, Happier Than Ever.
In the anxiety-inducing clip, the musician can be seen walking in the middle of a busy road at night, as cars whizz past either side of her. The video was self-directed by Eilish, and was shot in just one take.
In the lyrics, Eilish talks about the struggle of maintaining privacy when you’re famous, particularly when it comes to relationships. She sings: “Had a pretty boy over, but he couldn’t stay / On his way out I made him sign an NDA… Thirty under thirty for another year / I can barely go outside, I think I hate it here.”
Eilish has previously discussed the anger she feels about how fame has changed her life, telling Rolling Stone last month: “I was a kid and I wanted to do kid shit. I didn’t want to be not able to fucking go to a store or the mall. I was very angry and not grateful about it.”
“NDA” is the fifth single to be released from Eilish’s second album, which is set to arrive on July 30. Previously-released singles include “My Future”, “Therefore I Am”, “Your Power”, and last month’s “Lost Cause” (which was accompanied by a controversial video that saw the singer accused of queerbaiting).
Eilish dropped the cover art for the album – which is the follow-up to her 2019 Grammy award-winning debut, WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? – in April, alongside the caption: “This is my favourite thing I’ve ever created and I am so excited and nervous and EAGER for you to hear it.”
Speaking on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in February, the singer revealed that she made the album during lockdown. She said: “I don’t think I would have made the same album, or even the album at all, if it weren’t for COVID. That doesn’t mean it’s about COVID at all, it’s just that, when things are different in your life, you’re different. That’s just how it is. So, I have to thank COVID for that, and that’s about it.”
Watch the video for “NDA” below.
