FINNEAS, Billie Eilish’s brother and co-songwriter of some of her most popular songs, released his debut album “Optimist” on Oct. 15.
“Optimist” holds a central theme of FINNEAS trying to be, as the title says, an optimist in the midst of all the discord in his life.

The album starts with the effective ballad “A Concert Six Months From Now.” Set to a steady acoustic guitar at first, the ballad first describes coming back to a concert after being away so long because of quarantine, but then goes on to chronicle a man’s struggling relationship with a girl since 2011. The song hits a climax in the middle with an instrumental, consisting of now electric guitar, where the man voices how overthinking everything has strained his mental health and yet how it’s impossible for him to let her go.
The second song, and my personal favorite, “The Kids Are All Dying” serves as a call for his generation to end the petty generational war between Millenials and Gen Z and put a stop the ignorance to all of today’s overwhelming issues (school shootings, unstable politicians, one-sided news, etc.). Using the repeated lyric “maybe we’re next,” FINNEAS conveys that Millenials leaving these issues all for Gen Z to deal with is insensitive and useless, because it affects all generations along with Gen Z.
The third song “Happy Now?” shares a spotlight on the displeasures and restless nature that comes with FINNEAS’ new life as a celebrity.
The fourth song “Only a Lifetime” is a pleasant song that has a theme of not taking advantage of any moment in life while breaking away from fruitless pride in one’s life compared to others.
The fifth song “The 90’s” reminisces on the 90’s and how its much simpler times should’ve been savored compared to today’s overcomplexities with a 90’s-esque beat and the occasional use of autotune.
The depressing sixth song “Love is Pain” highlights all of the possible weak points found in relationships, where anxieties can put a strain on the partners’ original spark.
The seventh song “Peaches Etude” is a brief piano solo dedicated to FINNEAS’ dog Peaches and the eighth song “Hurt Locker” continues the theme from “Love is Pain” and discusses the fragile nature of love and overthinking every possible consequence in a struggle to keep the connection with a partner alive.

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The ninth song “Medieval” addresses the struggle for celebrities to stay relevant by adapting or shaping themselves to other people’s liking on problematic apps like Twitter, calling the whole mess “medieval.”
The 10th song “Someone Else’s Star” acts as a twisted version of “Happy Now?” that depicts how all of FINNEAS’ emotions and memories are being filtered through the public eye.
The 11th song “Around My Neck” contains less lyrical substance but instead serves as a nice bop about intimacy.
The 12th song “What They’ll Say About Us” is a sweet song about taking time in a relationship and the hope that a couple’s bond will only grow stronger.
“Optimist” ends with the song “How it Ends” with the conclusive theme that no matter how hard the times may seem, it’s not the end, so people need to go make good use of the little time they have in life and seize whatever opportunity comes their way before time runs out and there’s no way to get it back.