"Drown" 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 ...

released on 21 October 2014. Originally released as a stand-alone single, a remixed version features on the band's fifth studio album '' That's the Spirit'' and was released as the lead single. The track, musically, marks a shift away from the band's previously established

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 ...

sound. Rather, it was described by critics as a

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

-leaning

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

and

song, being the later showcased as

arena rock Arena rock (also known as AOR, melodic rock, stadium rock, anthem rock, pomp rock, corporate rock and dad rock; ; ) is a style of rock music that originated in the mid-1970s. As hard rock bands and those playing a softer yet strident kind of po ...

. It is available to play in the music video game ''

Guitar Hero Live ''Guitar Hero Live'' is a 2015 music rhythm video game developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision. It is the seventh main installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xb ...

'', added on 12 January 2016. It reached No. 17 in the UK, becoming the band's first top-20 single in their home country.

Promotion and release

The song was announced 13 October 2014 on the band's social media accounts. The song leaked on 21 October 2014 on

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 ...

by accident because of a mistake by

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most acts signed to the label were punk and pop punk acts, while there are many post-hardcore and emo bands ...

, the band's United States record label. It later premiered officially on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

that same day. After it aired on BBC Radio 1, Oliver Sykes was interviewed by

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

. It had been reported that "Drown" would not appear on any studio album from the band. However, the song was later announced to be track 9 on the 2015 album '' That's the Spirit'', albeit as a remixed version. "Drown" was set to be released on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

on 7 December 2014. However, in early October, Oliver Sykes began teasing lyrics in the form of photos on Twitter. He also posted a message stating if "#DROWN" started trending on Twitter, they would release the song sooner. Drown was released on iTunes 3 November 2014. "Drown" was issued as a picture disc in the UK on 7 December. It was nominated for the

Kerrang! Award for Best Single The Kerrang! Award for Best Single is an honor presented at the Kerrang! Awards, an annual ceremony established in 1993 to recognise achievements in rock music. The award was renamed 'Best Song' for the 2018 ceremony onwards, but serves the same pu ...

. Later on 8 September 2015, the band performed an acoustic version of "Drown" which was alongside "

Happy Song "Happy Song" is a 1983 hit single by Italian disco music act Baby's Gang. The single became a European hit single when covered by German band Boney M. the following year. Boney M. version After Boney M.'s return to the charts with a cover of th ...

" and "

Throne A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign on state occasions; or the seat occupied by a pope or bishop on ceremonial occasions. "Throne" in an abstract sense can also refer to the monar ...

" part of a radio session set at

Maida Vale Studios Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC sound studios, of which five are in regular use, in Delaware Road, Maida Vale, west London. It has been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions for BBC Radio 1, ...

for

with

Annie Mac Annie Mac (born 18 July 1978), is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, including hosting her AMP (Annie Mac Presents) ...

. Furthermore, it was accompanied by a small group of

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ists. On 25 December 2015, the band released the BBC Radio 1 acoustic performance of "Drown" as a standalone single.

Music video

The music video for the track was released on 21 October 2014 via their

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

account. It features the band performing the track "rather rigidly", being described as "a far cry from their energetic live shows." As of November 2022, the music video for "Drown" has over 120 million views on

Personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * Tidal (album), ''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 * ...

. Bring Me the Horizon *

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 ...

– lead vocals, production, composition, programming * Lee Malia – guitars, composition * Matt Kean – bass, composition * Matt Nicholls – drums, composition * Jordan Fish – keyboards, synthesizers, programming, percussion, backing vocals, production, composition, engineering Additional personnel *

Al Groves Alistair Austin Rothwell Groves is a British record producer, currently based in Liverpool, England. He is renowned for his focus on guitar based popular music. He works at The Motor Museum, Liverpool and is a guest lecturer in music production at ...

– engineering * Sam Winfield – engineering * Nikos Goudinakis – assistant engineering *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography Ted ...

– mastering *

Dan Lancaster Dan Lancaster is a producer, mixer, songwriter and artist from the UK. He is best known for his mixing and production work in contemporary rock music, and has worked with prominent global acts such as Blink-182, 5 Seconds Of Summer, Bring M ...

– mixing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2014 singles Bring Me the Horizon songs Songs written by Oliver Sykes 2014 songs Epitaph Records singles British pop punk songs British alternative rock songs Emo songs