"It Gets Better" is a song by

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

Swedish House Mafia Swedish House Mafia (SHM) is a Swedish house music supergroup consisting of Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso. The group officially formed in late 2008, were placed at number ten on the ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 DJ Poll 2011, and have been ...

, released on 15 July 2021 through SSA Recording and

Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

. It is the group's first single in eight years, following their 2013 hiatus and signing to Republic. The song precedes Swedish House Mafia's debut studio album, ''

Paradise Again ''Paradise Again'' is the debut studio album by Swedish house music supergroup Swedish House Mafia, released on 15 April 2022 through SSA Recording and Republic Records. The album features guest appearances from 070 Shake, ASAP Rocky, Connie Cons ...

'', and was noted as being darker than their previous music.

Background

An early version of "It Gets Better" was previewed during the

Save the World Reunion Tour The Save the World Reunion Tour is a 2019 reunion tour by Swedish supergroup Swedish House Mafia. Named after their 2011 single, the tour was a follow up to the group's reunion at Ultra Miami in 2018. After months of speculation, the tour was ...

in 2019. As a result, it was included on

Dancing Astronaut Dancing Astronaut is an American media platform founded in 2009 that primarily covers the electronic dance music industry. The website covers concerts and festivals, reports on entertainment news, reviews music, and publishes original content sy ...

's list of the most-anticipated IDs of 2021. The song was "radically revised" by Swedish House Mafia in early 2021. Following fan demand for the 2019 version, group member

Axwell Axel Christofer Hedfors (; born 18 December 1977), better known by his stage name Axwell, is a Swedish DJ, record producer, remixer and owner of Axtone Records. He is a member of Swedish House Mafia along with Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angell ...

released the "Stockholm version" via

Dropbox Dropbox is a file hosting service operated by the American company Dropbox, Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, California, U.S. that offers cloud storage, file synchronization, personal cloud, and Client (computing), client software. Dropb ...

in November 2021.

Composition

"It Gets Better" was noted as a deviation from the sound of Swedish House Mafia's previous material. In a cover story with ''

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 ...

'', the group discussed changing their sound for their comeback in order to adapt to the new electronic dance music scene. ''

Paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...

'' called the song a "

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

banger with a clanging drop and a little

rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

bombast", while ''Billboard'' described it as "a sleek, imposing amalgamation of punchy beats, walls of synth and quick 180s into drops composed of what appears to be

cowbell A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. Although they are t ...

". Its sound received comparisons to the music of

the Chemical Brothers The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons in Manchester in 1989. They were pioneers (along with the Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method, and other acts) in bringing the big beat genre t ...

Leftfield Leftfield are a British electronic music duo formed in 1989 as the duo of Neil Barnes and Paul Daley (the latter formerly of the Rivals and A Man Called Adam). The duo was very influential in the evolution of electronic music in the 1990s, wi ...

and

the Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboard player and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured dancer and singer Keith Flint and dancer and occasional l ...

. "It Gets Better" samples the 1994 song "One More Time" by Divas of Color. It also samples

Nancy Sinatra Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer and actress. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra ( Barbato), and is best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'. Nancy Sinatra ...

's "Lightning's Girl"; as a result, songwriter

Lee Hazlewood Barton Lee Hazlewood (July 9, 1929 – August 4, 2007) was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s ...

receives a writing credit.

Critical reception

"It Gets Better" generally received positive reviews from critics. ''

Göteborgs-Posten ''Göteborgs-Posten'' (lit. "The Gothenburg Post"), abbreviated GP, is a major Swedish language daily newspaper published in Gothenburg, Sweden. History and profile ''Göteborgs-Posten'' was first published in 1813, but ceased publication in 1 ...

'' welcomed the song's message in light of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The song has received also received positive reviews from ''

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 ...

'' and ''

Promotion

The music video for "It Gets Better" was directed by Alexander Wessely. It features a group of zombie-like characters dancing along to the track, while the three group members are suspended above them. Swedish House Mafia performed the song on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

'' on 19 July 2021, as well as at the pre-show for the

2021 MTV Video Music Awards The 2021 MTV Video Music Awards were held on September 12, 2021, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City. This marked the first time in eight years that the venue hosted the show. The show was hosted by hip-hop rapper and singer Doja ...

on 12 September; both performances featured the song in a medley with "

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

Track listing

* Digital release # "It Gets Better" – 3:04 * Digital release # "It Gets Better" (Stockholm version) – 6:25

Credits and 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 * ...

. *

– recording engineer **

– producer, composer, lyricist **

Sebastian Ingrosso Sebastian Carmine Ingrosso (; born 20 April 1983) is a Swedish DJ and record producer. He is also a member of the Swedish House Mafia, together with friends Axwell and Steve Angello. Career 1999–2007: Career Beginnings Sebastian Ingrosso ent ...

– producer, composer, lyricist **

Steve Angello Steven Patrik Josefsson Fragogiannis ( el, Στέφεν Πάτρικ Γιόζεφσον Φραγκόγιαννης; born 22 November 1982), better known by his stage name Steve Angello, is a Greek-Swedish DJ, record producer, remixer and record ...

– producer, composer, lyricist * Al Mack – composer, lyricist * Carl Nordström – producer, composer, lyricist *

– composer, lyricist *

Magnus Lidehäll Magnus Lidehäll is a Swedish award winning producer, composer and songwriter. He works close with songwriting duo Vargas & Lagola – with whom he won the composer of the year award at the Swedish Grammy Awards in 2014. Together they have produce ...

– composer, lyricist * Mike Dean – mastering engineer, mixer

Charts

References

{{Swedish House Mafia 2019 songs 2021 singles 2021 songs English-language Swedish songs Republic Records singles Songs written by Axwell Songs written by Lee Hazlewood Songs written by Magnus Lidehäll Songs written by Sebastian Ingrosso Songs written by Steve Angello Swedish House Mafia songs