Billie Eilish Recreated NPR’s Tiny Desk Office at Home

In an at-home performance that will have fans doing a double take, Billie Eilish recreated NPR Music’s famed Tiny Desk office—and it’s incredibly realistic. Alongside her brother and frequent collaborator Finneas O’Connell, Eilish performed stripped down versions of “My Future” and “Everything I Wanted” from her Los Angeles home in the segment published on August 26—although one could not immediately recognize the setting as Eilish’s home. While the backdrop looks very much like the Tiny Desk office with its wooden shelves filled with vinyls, memorabilia, and everything in between, it’s actually a—wait for it—cardboard cutout.

“Obviously, we are not actually at Tiny Desk,” Eilish says after a stirring performance of “My Future,” explaining that the prop is but a mere illusion à la cardboard cutout. (Anyone else feel the need to get their eyes checked?) “But it’s still real. It’s just not in person real.” She added that “quarantine [has] been weird” and offered some pandemic wisdom: “I know we all feel the same—it’s been weird and we don’t know how long it’s gonna go [and] there’s barely anything that feels there’s any hope, but I think the future is something to be super hopeful in.” Eilish continued, “You know, the unknown and what’s to come. We’ll be OK one day, but maybe not right now.” 

In light of the coronavirus pandemic, NPR Music has adapted its Tiny Desk Concert series to virtual performances at artists’ homes. Norah Jones, Tame Impala, and Buscabulla are a few of the artists who’ve adapted with performances from the inside of their cars at the beach and their homes. The full extent of Eilish and her brother’s inventive recreation can be better seen towards the end of the video, when the camera zooms out and shows the room’s actual surroundings. The entire thing is music to our quarantine ears.