[B-SIDE GUYS] Heavy Delicacy: How Iress Reconstructs Eilish’s Fragile Question

Iress’s cover of Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For” recontextualizes existential themes, blending heavy soundscapes with emotional depth, creating a fresh artistic dialogue.

A cover succeeds not through faithful replication but thoughtful recontextualization—an artistic principle Los Angeles “doomgaze” outfit Iress embraces with their March release of Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For.” In this remarkable transformation, one artist’s whispered existential questioning becomes another’s thunderous lament, without sacrificing the emotional nucleus that powers the original.

The brilliance of Iress’s interpretation lies in their recognition that heaviness need not steamroll subtlety. Vocalist Michelle Malley—aptly nicknamed “the Adele of Doom” by LA music peers—navigates the technical and emotional demands of Eilish’s melody with restraint that makes the eventual catharsis all the more devastating. Her performance respects the “powerful and delicate” qualities of the original while introducing a mature weariness that reframes the song’s central question from youthful uncertainty to battle-worn exhaustion.

Instrumentally, the band crafts what could be described as controlled catastrophe—a sonic landscape where crushing guitars create not just volume but dimension. The production approach mirrors their live performances, which reportedly leave “audiences stunned to silence, moved to tears, and immersed in a satisfying amount of crushing distortion.” This careful balance between overwhelming force and emotional precision reflects their decade-plus evolution since forming in 2010.

The cover represents a natural extension of the band’s established approach. Their third LP, “Sleep Now, In Reverse” (released in 2024 on Dune Altar and Church Road Records) already demonstrated their facility for crafting “concise songs, each flickering into existence with magnificent intensity.” This economical sensibility serves their version of Eilish’s ballad particularly well, allowing the composition’s inherent emotional architecture to remain intact while reframing its aesthetic presentation.

Malley herself explains the band’s long search for the right cover material: “We knew we wanted to transform a pop song and make it our own… nothing stuck, until…’Billie’.” This informal internal shorthand for the project underscores both their respect for the source material and their comfort in claiming ownership of their interpretation. The live debut at their album release show—which Malley describes as generating an “euphoric” response—confirmed their instincts, leading to its inclusion on their UK tour and eventual studio recording.

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of this cover is how it functions as a dialogue between generational perspectives. Eilish’s original—written for the “Barbie” soundtrack—explores existential purpose through a distinctly contemporary lens. Iress reconsiders this question through their established post-metal framework, creating a version that feels less like appropriation and more like translation between musical dialects.

The result is neither derivative nor rebellious, but something more nuanced: a thoughtful meditation on how meaning transforms when filtered through different artistic sensibilities. Iress hasn’t simply made Eilish’s song heavier—they’ve expanded its emotional palette, revealing new dimensions within familiar architecture.