New York Magazine - USA (2019-11-11)

38 newyork| november11–24, 2019

BillieEilishWillDefinetheSoundof

SmartphoneSpeakersLikeMadonna

DidforStereo...

FORAPOPSTAR,Eilishdoesn’t appearto

obsessmuchoverimageorartifice.Shedresses

vividlybutnevergarishly. She’s affablebutno-

nonsenseininterviews.She’s notclamoringfor

placementsonhugerecords.HeralbumWhen

WeAllFallAsleep,Where Do We Gois a family

affair, allhushed,homemadebeatsandblood

harmoniesaidedbyherbrotherFinneas.It made

alltheadjacentpopradiohitsseemfussyby

comparison.Andit willlast. —CRAIGJENKINS

...AndWillHeralda Returnto

Repression,Too

WE’REDUEfora neo-Victorianage of restraint,

modesty,chastity,andconformity.Andnota

momenttoosoon!Socialmediahomogenizesour

thinkingandjoke-makingwhilealsomakingcer-

tainemotionaloutburstsseeminappropriate,

pointless,evendisgusting.Thepast 20yearshave

beena WildWest forsharingfeelingsandper-

sonalinformationonline(I doit constantly),but

nowthattheroadsare more pavedandthestakes

aremore apparent,perhapsnew generationswill

becomemorecircumspect.Maybethecurrent

internetty predilectionforstoicismis a harbinger

ofthingstocome.Also,haveyounoticedthat the

coolestyoungmusiciansdon’t movetheirfacesor

expressemotionvery much?Like BillieEilish,

whoseemsveryincontrolofherface.No gratu-

itouseyebrowmovement,nounnecessary smiles.

Herfaceis more like a veilthana mask.To me,

sheembodieshowpowerfulandattractiveit is to

becalm,controlled,andunreadable.Impassive,

removed,anenigma.It feelslike a reactiontothe

oversharingdecadesof theaughtsand’10s.Inthis

currentera,where everyonecanknowevery-

thing,it’ s coolto keepthingstooneself, holdcards

toone’s vest. —EDITHZIMMERMAN

There Will Be

Such a Thing As

a Burner Alexa

We’llBeginto ResentBig

EntertainmenttheWayWe

ResentBigTech

APR 01

The Impossible

Burger debuts at

select Burger

Kings, part of

a rapid main­

streaming of

plant­based

Frankeneating

perfected at

restaurants like

Noma, where

asparagus

preserved in

mold is regularly

served.



No, things don’t look overly

promising now, but the business of

food—its cultivation, its

manipulation, its production and

steady, rabid consumption—is

something we fire­ant Homo sapiens

have always done ingeniously well

during our short, star­crossed time

on this planet. Imagine urban centers

surrounded by towering vertical

farms as the sprawling horizontal

model of farming that drove

prosperity (along with waste, global

warming, and declining health)

mercifully disappears from the Earth

altogether. Instead of steaks and

chops, the fashionable “live food”

restaurants will be devoted to the

exotic, endlessly diverse realm ofthe

insect kingdom. (“Would you like

candied grubs on your kombu

porridge, sir?”) Innovative chefs will

be less like cooks than scientists,

experimenting with edible mold and

utilizing a virtual bouquet of

chemically enhanced smells and

tastes. “Gourmet” dinners will exist,

increasingly, not in reality but in

the ever­expanding realm of the

mind, designed to be enjoyed at vast

expense by pale, starved­looking

gourmands wearing elaborate

sensory helmets in the comfort of

their own homes. The rest of us will

subsist on increasingly sophisticated

faux­meat patties, rehydrated

vitamin powders engineered to taste

like vanished “home cooked”

delicacies (Grandma’s meatballs,

chicken potpies, eggplant Parmesan),

and Soylent­like substances

cranked out on 3­D printers, which

those great food innovators at

the Pentagon are designing now for

troops in the field. And what

about the bellicose, opinionated,

wine­swilling, foie gras–gobbling

restaurant critics who once roamed

the great foodways during the

vanished Era of Plenty? We will

survive, of course, although in

slimmer, much less bellicose form,

because as long as there is food,

nourishment, and human life on the

planet, there will always be critics.

—ADAM PLATT

MAR 29

Stoic pop
witch Billie
Eilish releases
debut album.

PHOTOGRAPHS: PACIFIC PRESS AGENCY/ALAMY LIVE NEWS (EILISH); JOSEPH WEAVER (ASPARAGUS)

MAR 29

58 percentof
parentsusing
digital
assistantssay
theyworry
about
surveillance.

MAR 31

Disney
preparesto
announceits
Disney+
launch date.