"Chelsea Smile" is a song by British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Bring Me the Horizon Bring Me the Horizon (often abbreviated as BMTH) are a British rock band formed in Sheffield in 2004. The group consists of lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls and keyboardist Jordan Fis ...

. Produced by

Fredrik Nordström Björn Tom Fredrik Nordström (born 5 January 1967) is a Swedish musician and record producer, best known as the guitarist of heavy metal band Dream Evil. Nordström is one of the leading melodic death metal and power metal producers in Sweden ...

and Henrik Udd, it was featured on the band's 2008 second studio album ''

Suicide Season ''Suicide Season'' is the second studio album by British rock band Bring Me the Horizon. It was released on 29 September 2008 in the United Kingdom and Europe through Visible Noise. The band signed a licensing deal with Epitaph Records on 11 Se ...

''. The song was also released as the second

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

from the album on 19 January 2009.

Travie McCoy Travis Lazarus "Travie" McCoy (born August 5, 1981) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is the co-founder and former lead vocalist of the rap rock band Gym Class Heroes, in addition to having a solo career. McCoy became involved w ...

and KC Blitz produced

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

es of the track for the album's special edition reissue, ''Suicide Season Cut Up!'', which was released in 2009.

Background

"Chelsea Smile" has been identified as evidence of Bring Me the Horizon's musical development on ''Suicide Season''; ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' writer Dave Synyard praised it, alongside "It Was Written in Blood", for featuring "catchier rhythms, lessened

guttural vocals A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for their ...

and more structured songwriting, as opposed to reverting to a technical onslaught of guitar riffs". When asked about this change in approach in relation to the two songs, vocalist

Oliver Sykes Oliver Scott Sykes (born 20 November 1986) is a British singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Bring Me the Horizon. He also founded the apparel company Drop Dead Clothing, and created a graphic novel. Early l ...

explained that "I think it's good when a band can be really heavy and still have catchy hooks and riffs without it being cheesy and typical", adding that the band were "trying to make the heaviest and catchiest music possible". For the ''Cut Up!'' portion of the 2009 special edition reissue of ''Suicide Season'', remixes of "Chelsea Smile" were produced by Jamie Kossoff and

Jon Courtney Jon Courtney is a British singer, guitarist, and keyboard player, of the rock band Pure Reason Revolution. He was also the sole songwriter (except " The Bright Ambassadors of Morning" credited to Courtney/Jong) on their first two albums. Out ...

under their KC Blitz moniker, as well as

Gym Class Heroes Gym Class Heroes was an American rap rock band from Geneva, New York. The group formed in 1997 when Travie McCoy met drummer Matt McGinley during their high school gym class. The band's music displays a wide variety of influences, including hip h ...

frontman

. According to set list aggregation website setlist.fm, "Chelsea Smile" is the song performed most frequently at Bring Me the Horizon concerts. It has been included in the set lists of several high-profile shows, including the band's performances at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...

in 2014 (documented on the live video album '' Live at Wembley''),

Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...

in 2015 and

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as part of the That's the Spirit Tour in 2015.

Music video

The

for "Chelsea Smile" was directed by Adam Powell, who also worked on the video for earlier ''Suicide Season'' track "The Comedown". It was filmed and released in early January 2009, alongside a series of four

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videos which were uploaded periodically to the band's Myspace page. The video features a brief appearance from the members of Canadian

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

band

Cancer Bats Cancer Bats is a Canadian hardcore punk band from Toronto, Ontario. To date, they have released seven studio albums and six extended plays; with their most recent LP, ''Psychic Jailbreak'', having been released on 15 April 2022. The band is cur ...

, who are shown playing poker during the opening scene. ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' included it at number 9 on their list of the band's best music videos in April 2015, praising its high-energy party vibe. The video was later included on the ''Cut Up!'' special edition reissue of ''Suicide Season''.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Tom Forget praised "Chelsea Smile" as a highlight of ''Suicide Season'', describing it as "Intricately constructed and refreshingly unpredictable". Dan Slessor of the ''

Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...

'' named it the best Bring Me the Horizon song, praising its "armor-plated juddering, deranged energy, titanic breakdown and insidiously catchy hooks". ''

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...

''s Sarai C. ranked it at number two on her feature of the band's best songs, highlighting its importance to the development of the group's sound and the

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

genre in general, moving away from its deathcore roots. ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

'' writer Luke Morton ranked it the sixth best song by the band, describing it as "one of the nastiest songs to ever be called catchy" and praising its "brutalising breakdowns" and "primal screams". In 2019, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' ranked the song number seven on their list of the 10 greatest Bring Me the Horizon songs, and in 2022, ''

'' ranked the song number four on their list of the 20 greatest Bring Me the Horizon songs.

Personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. Bring Me the Horizon *

– lead vocals, keyboards, programming * Lee Malia – lead guitar * Curtis Ward – rhythm guitar * Matt Kean – bass * Matt Nicholls – drums Additional personnel *

– production, mixing * Henrik Udd – production, mixing * Peter In De Betou – mastering

References

External links

"Chelsea Smile"
music video at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

{{authority control 2008 songs 2009 debut singles Bring Me the Horizon songs Songs written by Oliver Sykes Music videos directed by Adam Powell Epitaph Records singles