"Chlorine" is a song by American musical duo
Twenty One Pilots
Twenty One Pilots (stylized in all lowercase or as twenty øne piløts) are an American musical duo from Columbus, Ohio. Initially a band, the group was formed in 2009 by lead vocalist Tyler Joseph along with Nick Thomas and Chris Salih, who ...
. The song was released on October 5, 2018 as part of their fifth studio album, ''
Trench
A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit).
In geology, trenches result from ero ...
'', by
Fueled by Ramen
Fueled by Ramen LLC is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by 300 Elektra Entertainment. The label, founded in Gainesville, Florida in 1996, is now based in New York City.
History
John Janick conceived of the l ...
and on January 22, 2019 as the fifth single from the album plus a music video. It became the band's fifth number one single on the Billboard
Alternative Songs chart and the first track from ''Trench'' to be certified platinum. The song was sent to Alternative radio on January 29, 2019 then sent to Top 40 radio on March 19, 2019. The track was written and produced by lead singer
Tyler Joseph
Tyler Robert Joseph (born December 1, 1988) is an American singer, rapper, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman for the musical duo Twenty One Pilots, alongside bandmate Josh Dun. He has been nominated for ...
and
Paul Meany
Paul Meany (born July 2, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, music director and record producer. He is best known as the lead singer and keyboardist for the alternative rock band Mutemath.
Career
While under the mon ...
of rock band
Mutemath
Mutemath (sometimes styled as MuteMath or MUTEMATH) is an American alternative rock project founded by American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer Paul Meany. Originally co-founded as a band with Darren King in 2002, ...
. It is a
pop,
electropop,
trip hop
Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tem ...
and
rap rock song which discusses "how creativity can cleanse dark impulses but cause its own pain".
"Chlorine" was well-received by music critics, who highlighted its catchiness and musical restraint compared to the band's previous work. Upon the song's release as a single, a music video directed by Mark Eshleman of Reel Bear Media was uploaded.
Composition
As with much of ''
Trench
A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit).
In geology, trenches result from ero ...
'', "Chlorine" was written and produced by
Tyler Joseph
Tyler Robert Joseph (born December 1, 1988) is an American singer, rapper, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman for the musical duo Twenty One Pilots, alongside bandmate Josh Dun. He has been nominated for ...
, the lead singer of
Twenty One Pilots
Twenty One Pilots (stylized in all lowercase or as twenty øne piløts) are an American musical duo from Columbus, Ohio. Initially a band, the group was formed in 2009 by lead vocalist Tyler Joseph along with Nick Thomas and Chris Salih, who ...
, and Paul Meany of
Mutemath
Mutemath (sometimes styled as MuteMath or MUTEMATH) is an American alternative rock project founded by American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer Paul Meany. Originally co-founded as a band with Darren King in 2002, ...
, who also provided the voice for the track's opening lines. The songwriting process and recording took place in secret in Joseph's
basement studio in
Columbus
Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to:
* Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer
* Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio
Columbus may also refer to:
Places ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, while the track was mixed by
Adam Hawkins and mastered by
Chris Gehringer
Chris Gehringer (born May 27, 1962) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered recordings such as Gwen Stefani's '' Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004), Rihanna's '' Loud'' (2010), Lady Gaga's '' Born This Way'' (2011) and Drake' ...
at
Sterling Sound,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
.
In an "Ask Me Anything" session on
Reddit
Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, imag ...
, Joseph wrote that "wrestling on trying to tackle what he was feeling in 'Chlorine' was exhausting."
According to sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by
Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is the largest music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is itself owned ...
, "Chlorine" is set in
common time
The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note val ...
with a "melancholy" tempo of 90 beats per minute. The song is composed in the key of
B♭ minor
B-flat minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has five flats. Its relative major is D-flat major and its parallel major is B-flat major. Its enharmonic equivalent, A-sharp mi ...
, with Joseph's vocals ranging between the notes of F
3 and D♭
5. It is a
pop,
electropop,
trip hop
Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tem ...
and
rap rock song featuring a lowered voice found on the band's previous album ''
Blurryface
''Blurryface'' (stylized as ') is the fourth studio album by American musical duo Twenty One Pilots. It was released on May 17, 2015, through Fueled by Ramen. The album is primarily an alternative hip hop, electropop, indie pop, and reggae alb ...
'' and a "menacing,
Zaytoven
Xavier Lamar Dotson (born January 12, 1980), professionally known as Zaytoven, is an American trap music record producer, disc jockey, and keyboardist from Atlanta, Georgia. He has released collaborative projects with artists including Gucci Ma ...
-esque piano twinkle".
It has been described as a "menacing slow-burner" with an "annoyingly infectious" chorus comparable to the work of
Bastille
The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stor ...
,
Thom Yorke
Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been descri ...
,
DJ Shadow
Joshua Paul Davis (born June 29, 1972), better known by his stage name DJ Shadow, is an American DJ, songwriter and record producer. His debut studio album, '' Endtroducing.....'' was released in 1996.
Biography Early years (1989–1995)
DJ Sh ...
and
Gym Class Heroes.
Paige Williams of ''
Billboard'' suggested that the track was about cleansing your mind from dark thoughts,
while Caryn Ganz of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' stated that it "describes how creativity can cleanse dark impulses but cause its own pain."
Release
''
Trench
A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit).
In geology, trenches result from ero ...
'' was released on October 5, 2018. Chlorine was released as the fifth track of the album. On January 22, 2019, fans of Twenty One Pilots began speculating that a music video for the song "Chlorine" would be released the following day due to a series of teasers that the band posted on social media, including a short clip of a dirty swimming pool soundtracked by a drum beat similar to the one found on the track.
Tyler Joseph
Tyler Robert Joseph (born December 1, 1988) is an American singer, rapper, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman for the musical duo Twenty One Pilots, alongside bandmate Josh Dun. He has been nominated for ...
, the band's lead singer, also posted a message on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
which reads "there's someone i'd like you guys to meet. i'll introduce you to him tomorrow. his name is Ned. <>". However, the band later announced that they could not wait to share the video any longer and subsequently released the music video that same day. Just prior to this release, an image of a letter written by Clancy, the protagonist of the storyline of ''
Trench
A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit).
In geology, trenches result from ero ...
'', was uploaded to the website dmaorg.info, which prompts the file name 17–35.4527, 17 and 35.4527 being the
atomic number
The atomic number or nuclear charge number (symbol ''Z'') of a chemical element is the charge number of an atomic nucleus. For ordinary nuclei, this is equal to the proton number (''n''p) or the number of protons found in the nucleus of every ...
and
atomic mass
The atomic mass (''m''a or ''m'') is the mass of an atom. Although the SI unit of mass is the kilogram (symbol: kg), atomic mass is often expressed in the non-SI unit dalton (symbol: Da) – equivalently, unified atomic mass unit (u). 1&nb ...
of the chemical element
chlorine
Chlorine is a chemical element with the symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between them. Chlorine i ...
respectively. Additionally, on January 23, the letter was updated with the words "than" and "happened" being replaced by "that" and "happen" respectively. A
Reddit
Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, imag ...
user later discovered that the letter changes spelled out the name "Ned", the name of the creature featured in song's music video.
On January 29, 2019, "Chlorine" was serviced to alternative radio and then released to Top 40 radio on March 19, 2019.
Finally on February 8, the "
Alt Mix" version of the song, which cuts the song's intro and outro, was released on streaming services.
Reception
"Chlorine" pleased music critics, with positive sentiments being directed towards its catchiness and the band's increased songwriting maturity compared to their antecedent records. Joshua Copperman of ''
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
'' complimented "Chlorine"'s musical restraint in comparison to the band's previous work and opined that it featured the "catchiest chorus on the record."
Gary Ryan of ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' wrote that the track was one of the songs off ''Trench'' "strong enough to exist outside of any story," referring to the narrative found on the album.
''
Billboard'' writer Chris Payne found that the evolution of the band's musical style on tracks off ''Trench'' including "Chlorine" as "jarring."
''GIG Soup''s Jo Cosgrove expressed a similar sentiment, further adding that the song was "catchy" and "in-depth." David Hayter of ''411 Mania'' hailed the track as "delightful," ultimately concluding that it "is something both murky and spritely, psychologically wrought, but charmingly euphoric." Anne Nickoloff and Troy Smith of
Cleveland.com
''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday.
As of Ma ...
named the release the eighth best Twenty One Pilots song, deeming it the most accessible track off ''Trench''.
Music video
The music video for "Chlorine" was uploaded upon the song's release as a single on January 22, 2019, and was directed by Mark C. Eshleman of Reel Bear Media. It shows the duo filling up a dirty swimming pool and cleaning it while being watched by a small, white alien-like creature with small antlers, black eyes and hairy bat-like ears named Ned. When the duo finish cleaning and filling the pool, Ned dives into it and his antlers seem to grow in response. The video ends with Joseph sitting in an empty pool accompanied by the creature, whose antlers begin to shrink again, before offering it a cup containing an unknown substance, which Ned refuses to take. As of December 2022, the video has surpassed 490 million views on YouTube.
The creation of the character Ned was undertaken from mid-December 2018 using 3D VFX and physical stand-in mold. In an interview in
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe.
Kyi ...
during
The Bandito Tour
The Bandito Tour (stylized as THE BANDITØ TØUR) is the sixth concert tour by the American musical duo Twenty One Pilots, in support of their fifth studio album ''Trench'' (2018). The tour began at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee o ...
, the band explained that Ned represents "this idea of creativity and trying to take care of it and trying to please it... or appease it."
19.4326° N, 99.1332° W version
"Chlorine (19.4326° N, 99.1332° W)" is a re-imagined version of the track released to streaming services on June 21, 2019.
It is the first unplugged performance of a track from ''Trench'' to be released from the band's ''Løcatiøn Sessiøns'' series, and is presumed to have been recorded at a private concert in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
, where the coordinates in the song's title points. Musically, it features Joseph singing "Chlorine" over a piano and a sparse beat.
Track listing
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Trench'' and Twenty One Pilots' official
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and 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 Google, and is the second mo ...
channel.
Recording and management
*Published by Warner-Tamerlane publishing Corp. (
BMI) and Stryker Joseph Music (BMI)
*Recorded at
Tyler Joseph
Tyler Robert Joseph (born December 1, 1988) is an American singer, rapper, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman for the musical duo Twenty One Pilots, alongside bandmate Josh Dun. He has been nominated for ...
's home studio
( Columbus, Ohio) and
United Recording Studios
United Western Recorders was a two-building recording studio complex in Hollywood that was one of the most successful independent recording studios of the 1960s. The complex merged neighboring studios United Recording Corp. on 6050 Sunset Boul ...
( Hollywood, California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
)
*Mastered at
Sterling Sound ( New York, New York)
Twenty One Pilots
*
Tyler Joseph
Tyler Robert Joseph (born December 1, 1988) is an American singer, rapper, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman for the musical duo Twenty One Pilots, alongside bandmate Josh Dun. He has been nominated for ...
– lead vocals, bass, synthesizers, guitar, piano, programming, keyboards, songwriting, production
*
Josh Dun
Joshua William Dun (born June 18, 1988) is an American musician. He is best known as the drummer of the musical duo Twenty One Pilots, alongside Tyler Joseph, and also contributes backing vocals and trumpet to the band's work. He has collabor ...
– drums, trumpet, percussion, backing vocals
Additional personnel
*
Paul Meany
Paul Meany (born July 2, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, music director and record producer. He is best known as the lead singer and keyboardist for the alternative rock band Mutemath.
Career
While under the mon ...
– synthesizers, programming, songwriting, vocals, co-production
*
Adam Hawkins – mixing
*
Chris Gehringer
Chris Gehringer (born May 27, 1962) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered recordings such as Gwen Stefani's '' Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004), Rihanna's '' Loud'' (2010), Lady Gaga's '' Born This Way'' (2011) and Drake' ...
– mastering
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
References
External links
*
{{authority control
2018 songs
2019 singles
Songs written by Tyler Joseph
Twenty One Pilots songs
American hip hop songs
Rap rock songs
American pop songs
Trip hop songs
Songs written by Paul Meany