| "Sine from Above" | |
|---|---|
| Song byLady Gaga andElton John | |
| from the albumChromatica | |
| Studio | Henson (Hollywood, California) |
| Genre | |
| Length | 4:04 |
| Label | Interscope |
| Songwriters |
|
| Producers | |
| Audio video | |
| "Sine from Above" onYouTube | |
"Sine from Above" is a song by American singerLady Gaga and English musicianElton John from the former's sixth studio album,Chromatica (2020). It is included as the album's fourteenth track, and is preceded by astring arrangement, "Chromatica III", which leads right into the beginning of the song. It was produced byBloodPop,Burns,Axwell, Liohn and Johannes Klahr, and had a wide array of songwriters involved. It is anelectronica-influenced electropop song with adrum n' bass breakdown, and lyrically it talks about the healing power of music.
Several music critics found "Sine from Above" one ofChromatica's standouts and appreciated its experimental nature, whereas some others were critical of the breakdown of the track and the use of vocal effects on John's voice. The song had minor chart placements in a few countries, and in the United States it reached a peak position of number 14 on theBillboardDance/Electronic Songs chart. Gaga sang a stripped-down version of "Sine from Above" in aValentino campaign video, while a remix edit byChester Lockhart, Mood Killer and Lil Texas appeared on herremix album,Dawn of Chromatica (2021).
"Sine from Above" marks the second studio based collaboration betweenLady Gaga andElton John, following their duet "Hello, Hello", which appeared in the 2011 animated filmGnomeo & Juliet.[1] The duo also performed together on numerous occasions, including the52nd Annual Grammy Awards, where they performed amedley of Gaga's "Speechless" and John's "Your Song", and theLady Gaga and the Muppets Holiday Spectacular television special, where they performed "Bennie and the Jets" and "Artpop".[1] Gaga later professionally recorded John's "Your Song" for the 2018 tribute albumRevamp.[2]
Gaga and John developed a long-time friendship, and Gaga referred to him as her "mentor for a long time".[1] In an interview withZane Lowe onApple Music, Gaga talked about her work with John on "Sine from Above", and explained how he played a significant role in her road to recovery:
Elton's always really challenged me to take care of my artistry and to really take care of myself. And I really, really honour that about him. He is so, so uniquely special. And I cannot tell you how instrumental in my life he's been to showing me that you can go all the way in life and… be authentic and be you and do good things in the world and take care of yourself and be there.[3]
"Sine from Above" was produced byBloodPop,Burns,Axwell, Liohn and Johannes Klahr, and had a wide array of songwriters involved. Axwell talked about how the song came about in an interview forRolling Stone, stating: "I had this old song we worked on, like, seven years ago with Elton John. We tried working on it and we couldn't really get it where we wanted it. It was also kind of hard to get ahold of Elton John. I had this on my computer and was like, 'Wait a minute. Lady Gaga and Elton John are buddies.'" Axwell then sent thedemo to Gaga and co-producer BloodPop who loved the track and decided to record it for Gaga'sChromatica (2020) album as a collaboration with John.[3] He later added that the song was initially "a more chilled out,piano,acoustic thing. You can still hear that in the verses, and [the final version has] the same chord progression."[4]
Talking about the recording of the song, co-producer Burns explained that John was on tour in Australia when they were in the process of finishing the song. As they had a close deadline to finish everything, the recording sessions took place viaSkype, with Elton in a studio in Australia and the rest of them in Los Angeles.[4] According to John, "Sine from Above" came in a period of his career when he wasn't keen to write any new songs with his long-term collaboratorBernie Taupin, and instead he featured on other musician's songs as a guest performer, "and went back a bit into being asession musician."[5]
"Sine from Above" is anelectronica-influencedelectropop track which includestrancesynths and adrum-and-bass breakdown at the end of the song.[6][7][8][9] Burns said that the ending was the singer's idea: "Originally, my first version had an'Amen'-style break beat throughout it, but in the end, we opted for afour-to-the-floor rhythm. At the last minute, Gaga thought there should be some kind of crazy, jarring outro. She mentioned speeding it up, so I figured why not bring back the 'Amen' break, but in classicJungle form."[4] In an interview withAmerican Songwriter, Gaga said "I wanted this song to have a range, where it began in a very organic, melodic way and then it ended in some sort ofcacophony. A cacophony that I'm now comfortable with", claiming it is about resilience.[10] According to the sheet music published on Musicnotes.com, the song is written in thetime signature of common time, and is composed in the key ofC minor with atempo of 123 beats per minute, increasing to 150 in the outro. The vocals range from the tonal nodes of B♭3 to E♭5.[11]
Lyrically, the song talks about the healing power of music and Gaga's relationship with a higher power.[6][12] Gaga explained the wordplay in the title as a reference to how music was an escape for her when she was in pain.[13] She said: "S-I-N-E, because it's asound wave. That sound,sine, from above is what healed me to be able to dance my way out of this album... That was later in the recording process that I actually was like, 'And now let me pay tribute to the very thing that has revived me, and that is music."[6] Thesine wave also appears on the cover art forChromatica,[14] and based on its lyricsBillboard considered "Sine from Above" to be "Gaga's mission statement for the album".[15] In the interpration of theLos Angeles Times' Mikael Wood, the track is "about feeling young when you're immortal."[16]
| "Chromatica III" | |
|---|---|
| Composition byLady Gaga | |
| from the albumChromatica | |
| Released | May 29, 2020 (2020-05-29) |
| Studio | Henson (Hollywood, California)[17] |
| Length | 0:27 |
| Songwriters |
|
| Producers |
|
| Audio video | |
| "Chromatica III" onYouTube | |
"Sine from Above" is one of the three songs on theChromatica album which are preceded by anorchestral interlude, transitioning directly into the track, as Gaga wanted to emphasize the "cinematic" feeling of the record and felt that it had distinct acts.[4] The preceding interlude, "Chromatica III" was composed by musicianMorgan Kibby, who assembled a 26-person orchestra to record thestring arrangement.[4] Talking about the creating process, Kibby said:
"Chromatica III" started out as an arrangement under "Sine From Above". When we soloed the strings, BloodPop had the instinct that it should live as a distinct moment, so it became our foundation for "Chromatica III". After we parsed out part of the arrangement we all loved, he and Gaga, I believe, added the sounds of rain. The key piece of "III" for the strings was definitely the long note that sweeps and swells to honor the concept of a sine wave, and I think the additional production serves to highlight that idea.[4]
While reviewing the album, Patrick Gomez ofThe A.V. Club called the piece an "unexpected highlight", and compared it to aHans Zimmer score.[18] "Chromatica III" was later featured in the music video for the song "911", playing in the background in a scene which shows Gaga crying after being involved in a car accident.[19]
Canadian singer and producerGrimes was set to remix the interlude forDawn of Chromatica (2021), as well as "Chromatica I" and "Chromatica II"; however, her contributions did not make the final cut.[20]
Nick Smith ofMusicOMH thought that the collaboration was "rather inspired" and "perhaps the album's highlight".[21] Brittany Spanos fromRolling Stone complimented the production as well as John's vocals saying "John's smooth, deep voice make him a perfect fit, making it sound like he's been gunning to become adisco vocalist for the entirety of his career."[9] Hannah Mylrea fromNME called the song "brilliantly bizarre" saying it "is basically what a heady night out atGlastonbury's Shangri La[a] with Elton and Gaga would sound like".[22] Writing forPitchfork, Katherine St. Asaph found it one of the two strongest songs on the album, that "runs onWTF", and described it this way: "Imagine an axis from bizarro transcendence to pure transcendence; 'Sine from Above' is all the way at the left."[23] Jem AswadVariety thought that John gives a "stately vocal performance" as the sole male voice on the otherwise "very female andfeminine" album.[24] AVulture article found "Sine from Above" "as grand a track as Gaga has ever recorded", and highlighted the "frenetic drum-and-bass breakdown that you wish went twice as long".[25] Michael Cragg fromThe Guardian called the song "ludicrous", and opined that it "would winEurovision on any given year." He underscored the "unexpected shift intocranium-rattling drum'n'bass, a fleeting taste ofexperimentation that feels oddly missing elsewhere [on the album]."[26]
Stephen Daw ofBillboard thought that the song "feels special", but called the final 30 seconds of the song "confusing" and "unnecessary", stating that "the effects laid over [Elton John's] voice falter as it slips into anuncanny valley."[15] Sal Cinquemani ofSlant Magazine thought that "Sine from Above" was the most experimental track onChromatica with its sudden drum n' bass drop, but opined that it's "a trickBjörk pulled off to more dramatic effect on her 2011 single 'Crystalline'."[27] Patrick Gomez fromThe A.V. Club found it an "odd inclusion" on the album, saying that "[John's] vocals are unfortunately jarring when he comes in on the second verse, and there's something unharmonious about how their voices come together here."[18] Simon K. fromSputnikmusic while complimented the production in the song, thought that the "track which once displayed real potential [is] completely stained by fundamental, asinine errors", and called John's contribution "godawful".[28] Caryn Ganz ofThe New York Times deemed it "a shapelessE.D.M. disaster".[29]
In theBillboard issue dated June 13, 2020, "Sine from Above" debuted on theBubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart at number sixteen,[30] and on theHot Dance/Electronic Digital Songs at number fourteen.[31] It was John's first ever appearance on the latter ranking.[32] On theUK Singles Downloads Chart, compiled by theOfficial Charts Company (OCC), the song debuted at number 68 after the album's release,[33] but four months later, in October, it reached a new peak of number 59.[34] "Sine from Above" also peaked at number 93 in Australia,[35] at number 200 in France,[36] at number 94 in Greece,[37] at number 109 in Portugal,[38] at number 82 in Scotland,[39] and at number 80 in Venezuela.[40]
On September 17, 2020, a stripped-down version of "Sine from Above" was featured in the video campaign forValentino's Voce Viva fragrance. Gaga appeared in the video singing the song along with a group of models.[41] The video includes the motto "My voice, My strength" by Gaga, who explained why she chose "Sine from Above" for the campaign:
[It] is about the passion I feel, when I manifest the sounds that I hear in my head. They come in the form of song, messages, ideas, and love. This is my strength. These sounds are the function that form the basis of my voice. I hear them, and then I use them. They are how I live, how I love, how I prosper, and how I survive.[42]
For Gaga's thirdremix album,Dawn of Chromatica, "Sine from Above" was reimagined byChester Lockhart, Mood Killer and Lil Texas. Lockhart was contacted by friend Bloodpop, who asked if the three of them would be willing to complete a remix in two days.[43] After agreeing to take on the project, the trio distributed the task into three parts, with Lockhart handling the first minute and a half, Mood Killer doing John's part, and Lil Texas the final third of the track.[43] Lil Texas said they intended to do the remix "thehardcore way", with Lockhart adding: "the song just gets crazier and crazier and crazier as it goes along. It starts off with a lot of energy and then it goes into clown circus demon territory magician. And then it becomes fullyguillotine, just chop your whole head off at the end. And that's what a song should be."[43] They were inspired by the orchestral moments and the use of imagery in the lyrics on the original album,saxophones andcircus music, and Gaga's 2014 single "G.U.Y.". They also noted the impact of Scottish music producerSophie on their work, saying that all of them are "a huge fan of hers and she's an idol to so many of us."[43]
The remix was described as "dubstep-meets-punk" byEntertainment Weekly's Joey Nolfi,[44] whilePitchfork's Jamieson Cox found "a bit ofArtpop in its flatulent digital provocation."[45] It featuresdistortedbass,glitchedtrap, drum & bass, thunder strikes, cartoonish sound samples, a saxophone solo and finishes withhardstyle music.[46][47][44][48] Writing forGigwise, Alex Rigotti likened it to "a haunted house onacid" and called it the best track on theDawn of Chromatica album, saying: "This remix is so expressive, experimental, and ballsy, straining Gaga and Sir Elton John's vocals to the very limit, until it all comes crashing down. It's Gaga like we've never heard her before."[46] Neil Z. Yeung ofAllMusic thought it was the "most chaotic remix" on the record with "a crushing breakdown that finally delivers on the surprise drum'n'bass outro of the original."[48]Paper Mag's Hilton Dresden called it "an amazing remix", with "a lot of moving parts", and opined that compared to the other remixes on the album "none go quite as hard" as this one.[43] Conversely, Robin Murray fromClash found it one of the missteps of the album, saying that "the dense effects seem to distort the song, and it’s perhaps a case oftoo-many-cooks."[49] Alexa Camp ofSlant Magazine called the remix "aFrankensteinian abomination that chops up and distorts guest Elton John's vocals, making an even bigger mockery of the legendary musician than the original did."[50]
On the day ofDawn of Chromatica's release, Gaga posted a video of herself with cartoonfilters through her social media, which included a snippet from the breakdown of the "Sine from Above" remix, along with a message encouraging her followers to "smile and dance through the pain".[51] The remix peaked at number 39 on theBillboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.[52]
Credits adapted fromTidal.[53]
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[55] | Platinum | 40,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)| The Fame | |
|---|---|
| The Fame Monster | |
| Born This Way | |
| Artpop |
|
| Cheek to Cheek | |
| Joanne | |
| A Star Is Born | |
| Chromatica | |
| Love for Sale | |
| Top Gun: Maverick | |
| Harlequin | |
| Mayhem | |
| As featured artist |
|
| Other songs recorded | |
| Other songs written | |
