"Clarity"
Single by Zedd featuring Foxes
from the album Clarity
Released14 November 2012 (2012-11-14)
RecordedApril 2012[1]
Genre
Length4:31 (album version)
3:48 (radio edit)
5:43 (extended version)
LabelInterscope
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Zedd
Zedd singles chronology
"Spectrum"
(2012) 		"Clarity"
(2012) 		"Stay the Night"
(2013)
Foxes singles chronology
"Clarity"
(2012) 		"Right Here"
(2013)
Music video
"Clarity" on YouTube
Clarity (Remixes)
Remix album by
Zedd
ReleasedFebruary 12, 2013 (2013-02-12)
Recorded2012–13
Length17:22
LabelInterscope
ProducerZedd
Zedd chronology
Clarity
(2012) 		Clarity (Remixes)
(2013)

"Clarity" is a song by Russian-German DJ Zedd featuring the vocals of British singer Foxes. It was released on 14 November 2012 as the third single from the former's debut studio album of the same name. The song was written by Anton Zaslavski, Matthew Koma, Porter Robinson and Skylar Grey and produced by Zedd. It was released as iTunes Single of the Week on 2 October 2012, and as an 4-track remix EP on 12 February 2013, by Interscope Records. Zedd released an extended mix of the song exclusively on Beatport on 18 February 2018.[5]

When Koma listened to Foxes' song "Youth", he contacted her through Skype and asked her to be the vocalist on "Clarity". After Foxes did research on Wikipedia about Zedd, she accepted the offer.[6] In June 2014, following the success of "Stay the Night" featuring Hayley 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 the BPI following the intake of streaming into Official Charts data in the UK.

The extended play of the track was released on 18 February 2013. It features ten remixes including Tiësto, Headhunterz and Funkagenda, among others.[7] From December 2012 to 4 February 2013, Zedd hosted a remix contest for the track. There were 982 official entries.[8] The winning remix by Tom Budin was due to be featured on an upcoming Zedd release.[9]

"Clarity" won the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording at the 56th Grammy Awards, becoming their first win.[10]

Critical reception

Idolator editor Sam Lansky praised the vocals produced by Foxes, and praised Zedd for "[transforming] his EDM sound into a lovely, downtempo emo-style set."[11]

Composition

"Clarity" has a tempo of 128 beats per minute, and is written in the A♭ major key. Its main chord progression is B♭m7sus4/E♭/Fm7/Cm7/D♭ – B♭m7sus4/E♭/Fm7/Cm7/D♭/A♭.[12]

Music video

A music video for "Clarity" directed by Jodeb was released on 11 January 2013. The music video featured Foxes and actor and model AJ English as a couple. The video starts with the camera panning over the desert, and later switching to see Foxes 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 injured Foxes. 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.

As of November 2023, the video has received more than 355 million views on YouTube.[13]

Usage in other media and cover versions

The song was also featured as the background music of the introduction video of F1 2013. The song was covered by Jessica Sanchez in her 2013 guest starring on Glee where she performed this song for Regionals competition in the episode "All or Nothing". Jessica also performed an acoustic version of this song with Zedd which was uploaded on YouTube. Michelle Chamuel also covered this song on the fourth season of the North American version of The Voice. The song was covered on the third season of The X Factor USA during the audition round by auditionee Rylie Brown[14] and the four chair challenge by Ellona Santiago. It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 86, peaked at number 8, and was his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 and his most successful song in the United States and worldwide. It has sold 2,238,000 copies in the United States as of March 2014. This song was performed by Jena Irene on American Idol 2014. Charlie Puth has an acoustic cover as well. Angelica Hale performed it during the quarterfinals of the America's Got Talent season 12. Jisoo of K-pop girl group Blackpink performed a Korean version of the song for the group’s In Your Area World Tour in 2019. "Clarity" is also featured in Konami's Dance Dance Revolution A20 arcade game. American rapper Ice Spice also heavily sampled the song's chorus in her 2021 single, "No Clarity".[15][16] The song was featured as a remix session on GarageBand.[17] In 2022, during his Second Sky music festival, Porter Robinson took credit for co-writing "Clarity" and performed a new cover live for his show.[18]

Track listing

Digital download[19]
No.TitleLength
1."Clarity"4:31
Digital download (Extended mix)[5]
No.TitleLength
1."Clarity" (Extended Mix)5:43
Digital download (Remixes EP)[20]
No.TitleLength
1."Clarity" (Zedd Union Mix)3:27
2."Clarity" (Tiësto Remix)5:54
3."Clarity" (Style of Eye Remix)6:37
4."Clarity" (Brillz Remix)5:57

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[57] 2× Platinum 140,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[58] Platinum 80,000*
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[59] Gold 45,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[60] Gold 150,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[61] Gold 15,000‡
Mexico (AMPROFON)[62] Gold 30,000*
New Zealand (RMNZ)[63] Gold 7,500*
Sweden (GLF)[64] Platinum 40,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[65] Platinum 600,000‡
United States (RIAA)[66] 5× Platinum 5,000,000‡

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Country Date Format Label
Italy[67] 14 November 2012 Contemporary hit radio Universal
Australia[68] 1 February 2013 Digital download Interscope
New Zealand[69]
United States[70] 12 February 2013 Digital download (remixes EP)
Australia[71] 18 February 2013
Germany[72]
New Zealand[73]
United States[74] 5 March 2013 Contemporary hit radio
United Kingdom[75] 6 June 2014 Digital download (remixes EP)

See also

References

  1. ^ Robinson, Porter (April 2012). "Zedd, Porter Robinson and Lucky Date @ Zedd 1 - April, 2012".
  2. ^ Rollingstone
  3. ^ Dancing Astronaut Staff (6 January 2020). "Dancing Astronaut's Top 100 Songs of the Decade". Dancing Astronaut. Archived from the original on 7 January 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  4. ^ Kellman, Andy. Now That's What I Call Music 47 (2013): Review at AllMusic. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Clarity (Extended Mix)". Beatport. Interscope Records.
  6. ^ Wass, Mike (30 September 2013). "Foxes On "Clarity", Her Debut LP & The Elastic Nature Of Youth: The Idolator Q&A". Foxes. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  7. ^ "Zedd, Foxes New Releases: Clarity on Beatport". Beatport. 18 February 2013.
  8. ^ "Zedd / 'Clarity' Remix Competition". Zedd.net. 4 February 2013. Archived from the original on 4 June 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  9. ^ "Zedd Ft. Foxes – Clarity (Tom Budin Remix) by Tom Budin". SoundCloud. 8 January 2013.
  10. ^ "GRAMMY.com". Grammy Awards. Archived from the original on 1 December 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  11. ^ "Zedd & Foxes Perform "Clarity" On 'Late Night With David Letterman': Watch". Idolator. 4 January 2013.
  12. ^ "Zedd "Clarity" Sheet Music". musicnotes.com. 2 April 2013.
  13. ^ "Zedd – Clarity (Official Video) ft. Foxes". YouTube. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  14. ^ Rylie Brown
  15. ^ "Ice Spice - No Clarity (Official Music Video)". Youtube.com. 7 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  16. ^ "Ice Spice – No Clarity Lyrics | Genius Lyrics". genius.com. Genius. 5 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  17. ^ "Zedd Celebrates 10th Anniversary Of 'Clarity' With Apple Music And GarageBand". www.yahoo.com. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  18. ^ Chiang, Nina (31 October 2022). "Porter Robinson Pulls No Punches With Second Sky 2022". EDMTunes. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  19. ^ "Clarity (feat. Foxes) – Single". iTunes AU. Apple Inc. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  20. ^ "iTunes – Music – Clarity (Remixes) – EP by Zedd". iTunes Store. 12 February 2013.
  21. ^ "Zedd feat. Foxes – Clarity". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  22. ^ "ARIA Report: Issue 1225" (PDF). ARIA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 September 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  23. ^ "ARIA Report: Issue 1218" (PDF). ARIA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
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  28. ^ a b BPP, ed. (November–December 2013). "Billboard Brasil Hot 100 Airplay". Billboard Brasil (46): 88.
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  30. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 201342 into search.
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  51. ^ "Zedd Chart History: Year-End Dance Club Songs". Billboard.com. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
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  59. ^ "Danish single certifications – Zedd feat. Foxes – Clarity". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
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  61. ^ "Italian single certifications – Zedd feat. Foxes – Clarity" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana.
  62. ^ "Certificaciones" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Type Zedd in the box under the ARTISTA column heading and Clarity in the box under the TÍTULO column heading.
  63. ^ "New Zealand single certifications – Zedd feat. Foxes – Clarity". Recorded Music NZ.
  64. ^ "Zedd feat. Foxes – Clarity" (in Swedish). Grammofonleverantörernas förening. Archived from the original on 5 April 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
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  66. ^ "American single certifications – Zedd – Clarity". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
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  71. ^ "Clarity (Remixes) – EP by Zedd". iTunes Store (AU). Apple. January 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  72. ^ "Clarity (Remixes) – EP von Zedd". iTunes Store (DE) (in German). Apple. January 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  73. ^ "Clarity (Remixes) – EP by Zedd". iTunes Store (NZ). Apple. January 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  74. ^ "Top 40/M Future Releases". All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  75. ^ "Clarity (Remixes) – EP by Zedd". iTunes Store (GB). Apple. January 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2014.

External links

Zedd
Foxes
Authority control databases
Categories