The Review:

A new Bond Theme is here. It’s not every day a new Bond Theme hits one’s eardrums for the first time, but the lucky singer who was hired by Sony to pen Daniel Craig’s final film as James Bond is none other than Billie Eilish. As if cleaning out the Grammys wasn’t enough for this girl, good grief. We love to see it.

“No Time to Die” is the name of the new film and the title of the theme. (Fun fact: there have been a few songs to notably stray from naming the theme after the title of the film.) It comes almost a month to the day after announcing Billie Eilish would be singing the film’s theme. She’s not the first person I would think of to do a Bond Theme, but why not. Well, how did she do?

I was hesitant to call the song great at first, but after a few more listens, I am relieved to say that she did an awesome job. “No Time to Die” is a somber ballad meant to foreshadow Craig’s last appearance as 007. When I heard the piano chords, I was scared it would be another “Writing’s on the Wall”, which I thought was boring, but I’m thankful there’s way more energy on this song. She has great chemistry with the music as it moves behind her voice, thanks to her brother/producer Finneas. The eerie strings swell as her voice sways from her soft raspy singing to her fragile falsetto. Then, just as she begins to sings louder, the strings do too. They get louder, they grow more and more magnified, but not to the point of becoming a pastiche of your typical spy movie theme song. However, there are instances that are characteristic of a Bond Theme: the strings, the chord changes, Billie’s big note, the horns, the slow guitars, etc. The song then hits it’s climax at the very end when the strings are at their loudest and Billie is almost trying to break belts out one of most impressive notes of her career thus far. It’s impressive. This brother and sister duo have done it again.

Does it stand on its own? Yes. Is it one of the best Bond themes? No, definitely not and that’s okay. Those songs are considered classics and the song isn’t even 12 hours old yet. If we’re comparing to recent themes, I feel this song ranks under Adele’s legendary “Skyfall” and above Chris Cornell’s “You Know My Name”. You are free to rank Billie Eilish’s own Bond theme among other great songs written for the films, but if you take anything away from this review, it’s that she did a damn good job.

The Pairing:

Shaken, not stirred… Not that it matters to me. I’ll be honest: I’m much more of a beer person. However, if I had to choose a drink to pair the song with a drink that wasn’t a boring ass Vodka Martini, I’d choose Beaker and Gray’s signature shaken vodka cocktail, The Halliwell. It has Stoli vodka, Cocchi Americano Rosa, ginger, strawberry, and mint. Ginger, strawberries, and mint work quite nicely even without any alcohol. However, the ingredient that brings this back home is the Cocchi Americano Rosa. It’s an Italian aperitif that’s a little bitter and aromatic due to the presence of citrus zests and rose petals. Now imagine that with the sweetness of the strawberries, the bite of the ginger, and the subtle tingling herbal quality of the mint. Round that out with some vodka and you get what sounds like a nice drink.

The one thing I’ve learned about cocktails: if it looks good, you’ll never actually know until you try it. So, go by Beaker & Gray and tell them you want to try a Halliwell… Just don’t tell them “shaken, not stirred” because that’s implied when you order one.