Tokio Hotel’s Bill Kaulitz has under the moniker BILLY released a solo EP titled I’m Not Ok and it features songs such as the fan favourite California High and Love Don’t Break Me, to which the video was released earlier this month.
‘Love Don’t Break Me’ is also the first song on the EP and it sets the theme from the start. With a heavy and electronic beat, he lays it all out: he had his heart broken and he is absolutely not okay. Bill has previously described this relationship as painful and toxic and lyrics such as “I’m tired of fighting, it really messed me up this time, tired of trying, I’m ready to leave this all behind” reflects this. It is a heavy song with painful lyrics that describe the breakup and immediate post-breakup.
The four remaining songs “Not Over You”, “Odds Are Against Us”, “California High” and “Forbidden Love” all describe the post-breakup and the moving on and the reflection on the relationship. Having always been a private person, never once having a public relationship, this is the first time Bill has spoken openly about his dating life.
The decision to release the five songs as the BILLY solo project rather than as a part of a Tokio Hotel record was, according to Bill, made partly because the songs didn’t necessarily fit Tokio Hotel as it was his break-up and his experience, and partly because he had always wanted to produce a solo record that was all him and completely on his terms. The moniker BILLY was chosen because Billy is a nickname that only select few people call him, his former partner being one. The BILLY project also includes a fine art book.
For those who are not familiar with Tokio Hotel, you might remember their 2008 hit song “Monsoon”. Tokio Hotel consists of four guys from Germany, Bill being one of them. They found international success and sold 7 million albums between 2005 and 2010 before taking a five-year break and returning in 2015 with Kings of Surburbia. Their fifth studio album is due in 2017.
You can buy BILLY’s EP “I’m Not Ok” on iTunes here.
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