Devil Clefs Bring Two Billie Eilish Songs into a Stairwell
A staircase becomes the performance setting for the Devil Clefs’ medley of “idontwannabeyouanymore” and “when the party’s over.” The Arizona State University a cappella group brings the two Billie Eilish songs together through an arrangement built entirely around voices.
The group’s official upload identifies Milena Santiago as the arranger and Kaitlyn Nielsen and Shelley Shinohara as the soloists. It also places the filming in the staircase at ASU’s School of Music, giving the recording a specific musical and physical context.
That setting is more than an unusual backdrop. The singers occupy different steps, allowing the group to fit into a narrow space while remaining visible. Their arrangement within the stairwell turns an ordinary passageway into an informal ensemble stage.
Without instrumental accompaniment, the voices must supply the song’s wider musical frame. Supporting parts establish harmony and texture around the solo line, creating a sense of depth without a piano, guitar, or conventional backing track.
The two Eilish songs share an intimate vocal world, making them a natural pairing for this treatment. The medley can move between their material while maintaining a consistent atmosphere, rather than depending on a sudden change of style to announce its transition.
Watch the performance
A soloist in an a cappella ensemble has a different relationship with the accompaniment than a singer in front of a band. The surrounding sound comes from other people breathing and shaping phrases, so coordination is audible in the fabric of the arrangement.
The supporting singers contribute more than a sustained background. Changes in harmony, register, and intensity can guide the listener through the piece. Even when the melody remains the most obvious element, the ensemble controls much of its atmosphere.
The staircase helps make that cooperation visible. Viewers can see several performers contributing to a single sound, with the solo voices remaining part of the same group. The presentation emphasizes collective music-making rather than isolating a lead singer from the accompaniment.
An enclosed setting also draws attention to resonance. Voices can seem to linger around a phrase, and the listener becomes aware of the surrounding space. The recording’s appeal includes that sense of an ensemble finding a useful acoustic environment outside a conventional stage.
The medley format adds another layer of arrangement. Joining songs involves decisions about continuity: which musical ideas belong together, where to move between them, and how to make the change feel like part of one performance.
Here, the shared vocal character provides that continuity. A restrained melodic line and layered supporting sound can connect the pieces, allowing listeners familiar with either song to recognize it inside a broader musical shape.
The original Eilish recordings make useful comparisons. Their production establishes a different relationship between an individual voice and its surroundings, while the Devil Clefs translate that atmosphere into an ensemble whose parts are performed together.
The comparison reveals how much arranging involves selection. An a cappella version cannot simply reproduce every recorded instrument literally. It has to identify the features that make a song recognizable and give those features an effective vocal form.
For listeners interested in group singing, the performance rewards attention to balance. A solo phrase needs enough room to remain clear, while the supporting parts need enough presence to make the harmonic movement meaningful.
The video also shows how a modest location can support a distinctive musical identity. There is no elaborate set to explain the performance. The stairwell, the arrangement, and the singers’ coordination establish the experience directly.
Devil Clefs’ official recording preserves an ensemble finding a shared sound in an everyday space. The Billie Eilish medley works because its two songs become one coherent vocal setting, with the staircase giving that setting a memorable visual frame.
More videos to explore
Billie Eilish’s official “when the party’s over” video returns to one of the medley’s source songs. It offers a reference for the melody and intimate atmosphere that the Devil Clefs translate into a group arrangement.
The official vertical video for “idontwannabeyouanymore” presents the medley’s other source song. Comparing it with the stairwell performance highlights how supporting voices can reshape a recording’s musical space.
Further reading: Performance background and source.
