"West Coast" is a song by American

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band

OneRepublic OneRepublic is an American pop rock band formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2002. It consists of lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Tedder, lead guitarist and violist Zach Filkins, rhythm guitarist Drew Brown, bassist and cellis ...

, released as a single on February 25, 2022, through

Mosley Music Group Mosley Music Group (MMG) is a record label founded and formed by producer Tim "Timbaland" Mosley. Founded in 2006, the imprint is distributed exclusively by Interscope Records and Def Jam Recordings. History The label was created after Timbala ...

and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

. The song was written by band's lead singer

Ryan Tedder Ryan Tedder (born June 26, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. As well as being the lead vocalist of the pop rock band OneRepublic, he has an independent career as a songwriter and producer for various artists since th ...

, who composed and produced it with bandmate

Brent Kutzle Brent Michael Kutzle (born August 3, 1985) is an American musician, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer, and film composer originating from Fountain Valley, California. He is the bassist and cellist for the pop rock band OneRepubli ...

Noel Zancanella Noel Patrick Zancanella is an American record producer and songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. He has written and produced songs for rock and pop artists such as Taylor Swift, OneRepublic, Maroon 5, B.o.B., Gym Class Heroes, Gavin DeGra ...

Justin Tranter Justin Drew Tranter (born June 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, singer, and activist. Frequently co-writing with Julia Michaels, Tranter has written songs for artists such as Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Linkin Park, Kelly Clarkson, Selena ...

, and producing duo

Mattman & Robin Mattman & Robin is a Swedish songwriting and production duo composed of Mattias Per Larsson and Robin Lennart Fredriksson. They are published by Wolf Cousins, a publishing company administered by Warner Chappell Music. In 2016, they won a Grammy A ...

. A fan favorite since a demo snippet was shared publicly, "West Coast" was originally intended for the band's fourth and later fifth studio albums, '' Oh My My'' (2016) and ''

Human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

'' (2021), but it was postponed due to the band's ambitions to meet expectations. It was later included as the main inspiration and second single from the band's sixth studio album '' Artificial Paradise''. Inspired by the

sunshine pop Sunshine pop (originally known as soft pop) is a subgenre of pop music that originated in Southern California in the mid-1960s. Rooted in easy listening and advertising jingles, sunshine pop acts combined nostalgic or anxious moods with "an appre ...

aesthetic of

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

and

the Mamas & the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were a folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group consisted of Am ...

, "West Coast" is an

alternative pop Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

and

electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...

tribute to 1960s

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, with lyrics about embracing a newfound sense of freedom and seeking "the Californian dream". The song received critical acclaim from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, who praised Tedder's vocals, production values, lyrics, and deemed it a perfect addition to the summer season. An accompanying music video for the song, directed by Thomas Whitmore, premiered on February 25 as well. It features Tedder cruising up the coast in a Cadillac convertible as he plans a

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

-themed dance party. The video was also used to promote tourism in collaboration with Visit California, as well as the new generation of Microsoft Surface devices. OneRepublic performed the song on television shows, and it was part of the setlist for the band's Never Ending Summer Tour (2022).

Background

In 2015, while OneRepublic was undertaking their Native Tour and recording for their fourth album, '' Oh My My'' (2016), the band shared a short snippet of one of the project's future songs, called "West Coast". During the same period, the band's lead singer and singer-songwriter Ryan Tedder was working with U2 on their 2017 album, ''

Songs of Experience ''Songs of Innocence and of Experience'' is a collection of illustrated poems by William Blake. It appeared in two phases: a few first copies were printed and illuminated by Blake himself in 1789; five years later, he bound these poems with a ...

'', and at one of the recording sessions, Tedder played "West Coast" to U2, who used a melody line and the first phrase of the chorus to create the single "Summer of Love". Tedder later reworked the song for OneRepublic's fifth studio album, ''

'', saying in 2020 that the track "it's like he Mamas and the Papas– California Dreamin' and

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but with drums that are like orillaz It's the craziest, coolest about-face 'here comes the summer'". The song ended up being dropped from ''Human'' after the album was postponed due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Talking about that, Tedder said that "The reason it hasn’t come out yet is because it’s such a unique sound, it's so different than all the normal OneRepublic stuff… we decided to make a whole album that made sense for “West Coast” and that’s the album that we’ve been working on for the last four months... "West Coast" is one of the key singles on that album and the sound of that album we’re slightly switching up to match with “West Coast,” because we think the song is so good". That album would be revealed to be ''Artificial Paradise'' released on July 12, 2024.

Lyrics and composition

"West Coast" is an

and

song, with influences of from the sound of bands

and

Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, ...

. OneRepublic's lead singer Ryan Tedder wrote the lyrics to "West Coast" in 2015. He later produced it and composed the song's melody with bandmate bassist/cellist Brent Kutzle, Noel Zancanella, Justin Tranter, producing duo Mattman & Robin (Robin Fredriksson and Mattias Larsson) and John Nathaniel.

Release and promotion

The song was officially released for digital download and streaming on February 25, 2022. Universal Music Group sent "West Coast" to Italian radio stations on March 18, 2022. The song was also released for digital download on OneRepublic's website the same day.

and

released it to the US

hot adult contemporary radio Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet sto ...

on April 11. In collaboration with Visit California, OneRepublic used "West Coast" to promote tourism in California.

Critical reception

"West Coast" received widespread acclaim from

for the song's production and Tedder's vocals. Joshua Andre of 365 Days of Inspiring Media gave 4.5 of 5 stars and wrote that song's melody is "a lot of heart, soul, inspiration, and purpose", also praising the lyrics and production, saying "we have that summery, breezy, pop atmosphere- a likeable song that speaks about being wild and free, and also speaks about having a good time". Kristin Smith of '' Plugged In (publication)'' compared "West Coast" melody with Adele's 2013 single " Skyfall", "except with a much faster beat and nowhere near as depressing", also pointing Tedder's songwriting, "this song is all about running from the blues that comes from a breakup, while also fleeing the winter blahs to find much warmer days–both figuratively and literally". Emily Harris of

Global Music Group Global Music Group is a United States-based record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. The company also has divisions in Canada, Asia and Europe. Company history Global Music Group was founded by Roland Turner, Tennessee and Anthony M ...

wrote that Tedder's vocals in bridge have similarities with "Skyfall", adding "'West Coast' is brimming with confidence. Additionally, OneRepublic don't hold back with their high quality oozing out of every facet of their production. Also, while the band’s typical pop sound is audible in the mix, each member of the group manages to bring fresh new components to the forefront; including a string section in the prelude and a soulful groove that emerges as the track goes". '' Il Post'' appreciated the inspiration from the 1960s music scene in the song, writing that the band managed to capture "the summer and dreamy atmospheres".

Live performances

The band performed "West Coast" for the first time during '' The Today Show'' on March 4, 2022. On March 8, OneRepublic performed it on '' The Late Late Show with James Corden''. The band performed the song for the third time on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'' (''GMA'') held on July 15, 2022 at Times Square Studios in Manhattan. The song was also a regular part of band setlist for the Never Ending Summer Tour.

Personnel

– lead vocals, songwriter, composer, producer *

– songwriter, composer, producer *

– composer, producer, additional producer * Robin Fredriksson – composer, producer * Mattias Larsson – composer, producer *

– composer * John Nathaniel – producer, background vocals * David Davidson – violin * David Angel – violin * Seanad Chang – viola * Paul Nelson – cello * Craig Nelson – upright

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Emoni Wilkins – background vocals * Wil Merrell – background vocals * Devonne Folkwes – background vocals * Doug Sarrett – engineer * Bryce Bordone – mix engineer * Serban Ghenea – mixer

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2022 singles 2022 songs Interscope Records singles Mosley Music Group singles OneRepublic songs Song recordings produced by Mattman & Robin Song recordings produced by Noel Zancanella Song recordings produced by Ryan Tedder Songs written by Brent Kutzle Songs written by Justin Tranter Songs written by Mattias Larsson Songs written by Noel Zancanella Songs written by Robin Fredriksson Songs written by Ryan Tedder Alternative pop songs Electropop songs