"Clarity" is a song by Russian-German DJZedd featuring the vocals of English singerFoxes. It was released on 14 November 2012 as the third single from the former's debut studio albumof the same name. The song was written by Zedd (who produced the song),Matthew Koma,Porter Robinson andSkylar Grey. It was released asiTunes Single of the Week on 2 October 2012, and as an 4-track remix EP on 12 February 2013, byInterscope Records. The song impacted US radio on 5 March 2013. Zedd released an extended mix of the song exclusively onBeatport on 18 February 2018.[6]
When Zedd listened toFoxes' song "Youth", he contacted her throughSkype and asked her to be the vocalist on "Clarity". AfterFoxes did research onWikipedia about Zedd, she accepted the offer.[7] In June 2014, following the success of "Stay the Night" featuringHayley Williams in the United Kingdom, "Clarity" was re-released there, and this time reached a better peak of number 27, compared to the previous one of 29 in 2013. It ended up being awarded silver certification by theBPI following the intake of streaming into Official Charts data in the UK. It also reached the top ten in the US and was certified six-times Platinum there as well as Gold or higher in nine additional countries.
The extended play of the track was released on 18 February 2013. It features ten remixes includingTiësto,Headhunterz and Funkagenda, among others.[8] From December 2012 to 4 February 2013, Zedd hosted a remix contest for the track. There were 982 official entries.[9] The winning remix byTom Budin was due to be featured on an upcoming Zedd release.[10]
Idolator editor Sam Lansky praised the vocals produced by Jonny "Ghostwriter" Harris, and praised Zedd for "[transforming] hisEDM sound into a lovely, downtempo emo-style set."[12]
"Clarity" has a tempo of 128 beats per minute, and is written in theA♭ major key. Its main chord progression is B♭m7sus4/E♭/Fm7/Cm7/D♭ – B♭m7sus4/E♭/Fm7/Cm7/D♭/A♭.[13]
A music video for "Clarity" directed by Jodeb was released on 11 January 2013. The music video featuredFoxes and actor and model AJ English as a couple. The video starts with the camera panning over the desert, and later switching to seeFoxes and the male lead driving in different cars, until they suddenly collide head-to-head, with enough force for both characters to rocket backward. The male lead wakes up after being knocked unconscious from the collision, and finds the injuredFoxes. However, she runs away through the desert, making him follow her until she falls unconscious in the sand. A rewind of the whole event was shown afterwards, before in the final scene, the two people drive in the same car, presumably enjoying themselves. All scenes were accompanied by computer effects of collisions and other images that synchronize with the music. The music video also features a cameo from Zedd.
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