“Lost Cause” by Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish wrote "Lost Cause" with her brother Finneas O'Connell, who also produced it, and it went out in June 2021 as the fourth single from her second album, Happier Than Ever. It's a breakup song with a smirk instead of tears: she's glad to be rid of an arrogant, checked-out ex, and she says so in a lazy croon rather than a shout.

The production is spare and cool, just drums, a bassline, synths and acoustic guitar, drifting somewhere between downtempo funk, soft rock and trip hop with a hint of jazz. Finneas plays the guitar and synths himself and sings backup, and Rob Kinelski mixed it. Eilish directed the video, a slumber party with a houseful of friends and a game of Twister, and the song entered the Hot 100 at 27, as high as it got.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.