Where music videos for Bond themes are concerned, there has been no shortage of memorable ones. From Duran Duran’s “A View To A Kill” with its attempts to interweave the band’s own Eiffel Tower espionage in with that of the film’s (in addition to turning an accordion into a sensual weapon) to Garbage’s “The World Is Not Enough” (which actually sounds quite instrumentally similar to “No Time To Die”) with its fembot premise the same year Austin Powers came out to perhaps the most ambitious narrative of all the videos, Madonna’s “Die Another Day,” most musicians tapped to do the theme try their best to create an indelible visual accompaniment. Even if it’s one enmeshed with a clip show of the movie itself.
For Billie Eilish, who has brought us the most striking Bond song since Adele’s “Skyfall” in 2012, that attempt has fallen somewhat flat. While it’s easy to use the excuse of the pandemic for being “limited,” that didn’t seem to stop Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion from making a distinctive video for the bop of 2020 (yes, “WAP” is a bop). Perhaps wanting to pay slight homage to Amy Winehouse and Lana Del Rey with her lounge singer act in this video (complete with the according style of microphone), Eilish takes the stage of a darkened room–presumably with no crowd–and serves us her best attempt at that whole smoky/sultry thing that lounge singers are supposed to exude (intended to be heightened with the overwrought effect of her segments being shot in black and white). That attempt, unfortunately, isn’t all that remarkable, particularly compared to some of the offerings we’re accustomed to getting from Eilish. And the use of the clip show approach doesn’t serve to bolster an already flaccid concept.
The split screen method of revealing these scenes from the movie (which, in fact, probably give away the entire plot and ending) seeks to portray Eilish as though she’s right there in James Bond (Daniel Craig) and Madeleine Swann’s (Léa Seydoux) bedroom. Yet rather than looking “natural” or “seamless,” it’s only all the more disorienting to a concept that, for as simple as it is, ought to just stick to that simplicity rather than trying to falsely dress it up with any “fancy” camerawork. The requisite car chases, explosions and fight scenes are strung together on their own, again giving away pretty much everything of interest that’s going to happen in the film. And it’s likely not the best idea to do so when considering how much effort it takes to tantalize people to go into a movie theater at present.
What’s more, Eilish painting us a Romeo and Juliet-level portrait of tragedy with regard to ill-fated love somehow feels negated when the screen flashes to the likes of Craig and Seydoux–not exactly the demographic Eilish would be singing for or about. But still, she’s not too young to understand the value of expanding her audience into the realm of those who would watch a Bond movie. Perhaps it is with this type of audience in mind that on the nose coordination between lyrics and visuals is also a cliche wielded throughout the video. Case in point, Eilish warbles, “Faces from my past return” as a scene of a creepily masked villain appears onscreen.
With the final line (“no time to die,” of course) and Zimmer-sanctioned musical note, Eilish turns her face in profile as the spotlight dims, as though this is supposed to be a proverbial “mic drop” moment in terms of the wonders she’s just shown us. Thing is, she hasn’t. And what does that say about 2020? Even a Bond music video feels depleted of any excitement or surprise.
