Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell, who performs under FINNEAS, have finally made their entrance into the Tiny Desk realm – so to speak – with a special at-home performance. In the age of staying home and streaming gigs, heaps of artists have checked-in from their own homes for Tiny Desk Concert sets, but Billie and FINNEAS went above and beyond: they recreated the actual set with huge cardboard cutouts.
Tiny Desk sessions have traditionally been set in the same place in the NPR offices in Washington D.C. It’s crammed in behind the chaotic desk of American musician and NPR host Bob Boilen, which is surrounded by towering shelves littered with books, records, nick-nacks, and all sorts of things. It’s a busy little spot in the office and the show somehow fits bands and groups of all sizes in there.
Before their two-song set from their home setup, Billie admitted that her brother and she are massive fans of the series, and have watched it for years. So it’s no surprise the pair went to insane lengths to make their first performance look as authentic as possible.
Billie weaved together stripped-back versions of Everything I Wanted and My Future, replacing the hooky beats with noodly guitars and backup vocals from FINNEAS. It’s a really sweet moment from the brother-sister power duo, but I truly cannot take my eyes away from the intricate detail of the makeshift backdrop.
It looks so real, my brain’s almost fooled into thinking they’ve actually somehow snuck themselves across the country and into the actual offices to record the video.
I wanna know what the fuck Billie Eilish is gonna do with the huge Tiny Desk cut-out now. Like, it looks massive? Is she going to send it on to the next Tiny Desk artist?
Consider the bar officially set, people. This is the level y’all should be aspiring to with your at-home performances now. Sure beats a janky Zoom background, that’s for sure.
