Billie Eilish and her brother/songwriting partner Finneas O’Connell have had a massive last few years with their hit-making and award-winning music, including their chilling No Time To Die’s Bond theme. The siblings' most recent credits are on Turning Red – yes, they penned the songs for the movie’s boyband 4*Town. While the Pixar film recruited some incredible voices, including Jordan Fisher, to voice the fictional early ‘00s group, one has to wonder: are there original demos by Billie and Finneas?
We’ve heard the boy band versions of Turning Red’s catchy earworms “Nobody Like U,” “1 True Love” and “U Know What’s Up.” But can you imagine Billie Eilish singing the song with her unique and talented voice? According to one of the 4*Town voices, Grayson Villanueva, it exists. As he shared with CinemaBlend:
They demoed the songs that they wrote and that’s what we were able to learn, their demos to the song were really cool. Their version of the ballad is so good.
Of the three 4*Town songs Billie Eilish and Finneas wrote for Turning Red, the ballad would be the most natural fit for Eilish’s solo act. And as Grayson Villanuevai, who plays Tae Young in the animated movie, said, their rendition of “1 True Love” was especially incredible. Topher Ngo, who voiced 4*Town's Aaron T, also spoke about the original demos:
I remember listening to the demo tracks in my room and just having headphones in and freaking out, having my own private Billie and Finneas concert.
As a huge fan of Billie Eilish, I’m obviously super jealous of the voices behind 4*Town got to hear some unreleased vocals of Billie Eilish and Finneas singing the songs that would become the boy band’s music in the Pixar movie. It’s quite a random project that the siblings took on together. When I spoke to the Turning Red filmmakers, producer Lindsey Collins said that they were “completely sold” on writing the music for the movie.
Finneas voices 4*Town member Jesse alongside Jordan Fisher’s Robaire, Villanueva as Tae Young, and Josh Levi and Ngo as the two Aarons. Fisher shared his own reaction to the demos, saying:
I remember being like, am I supposed to sing that octave and then I remember I got there, and they were like ‘Oh, you need to be in that octave.’ [laughs]
Billie Eilish is known for an incredible vocal range, and seeing Fisher’s reaction only further hypes up how great these demos must be. Of course, the versions we hear on the Turning Red soundtrack are exactly the vibes the movie was going for, but once we're tired of 4*Town’s versions, I hope Disney will release Eilish and Finneas demos as well.
While CinemaBlend spoke with four out of five of the 4*Town actors, with Finneas O’Connell being currently on Billie Eilish’s world tour, they also shared how they want the band to return after Turning Red. 4*Town was a highlight of the movie, and they threw out their ideas for a spinoff or short. Fisher pitched an idea that would see each of the members going about their day prior to the events at the end of Turning Red. Levi was all in on a 4*Town MTV Unplugged-type follow-up that would highlight some boy band drama.
And, of course, we’d also like to see 4*Town part of Disney Parks at some point as well. You can check out Turning Red with a Disney+ subscription now.
