Initially titled "Are You Happy Now" featuring Norwegian singer Sigrid, the song was first revealed during a cover shoot interview in 2017 with Billboard magazine.[1][2] On 3 July 2018, Zedd debuted the song at his Zedd in the Park festival, where he brought Elley Duhé on stage for a live performance.[3] Duhé posted a short video of the performance on social media with the caption: "Not gonna lie my [heart] is pretty full".[4] Zedd officially announced the song's release date and unveiled its cover art on 13 July,[5] and later teased the lyrics in multiple tweets.[6] He premiered the song on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 radio show as the World Record of the day.[7]
During the radio interview, Zedd explained the reason behind working with Duhé: "I think why I really gravitated towards her was that she had a genuine and honest approach to the song and she felt vulnerable and real."[8] Duhé said of the song in a press statement: "To me, 'Happy Now' is more than just a song. It's a significant moment in my life, the golden opportunity to work with one of the greatest DJ's/producer of our time. Being able to come together with complete strangers to do something beautiful, sing something meaningful, to share something special is what 'Happy Now' is all about."[9]
Composition
"Happy Now" is a post-breakup pop ballad,[7][10] stylized as a "vocal-centric pop/electronic hybrid".[11] It opens with an acoustic guitar line, before becoming "a bounding, chiming pile of percussion",[1] eventually ending with "Zedd's signature robotic voice".[7][12] The drop features a "memorable beat" composed of "whimsical, multi-toned synths cascading in mid-tempo, mellifluous breakdowns".[11] In a press release, Zedd regarded "Happy Now" as "the most organic sounding song [he has] made in a long time", noting that the majority of the song was recorded using real instrumentation, specifically "a lot of pianos and a lot of guitars". Lyrically, he described the song as "both happy and sad at the same time", while musically, the song "rather leans towards a happier, sunnier side".[13]
Remixes
On 21 September 2018, the official remix EP was released consisting of 5 remixes from DJ Marc Benjamin, DJ duo BEAUZ, DJ duo Duke & Jones, DJ MXXWLL & DJ duo Magnificence.
Critical reception
Rachel Narozniak of Dancing Astronaut called the song a representation of "yet another sonic step in a direction opposite the high-powered electro constructions of earlier foundational singles like "Clarity" and "Stay the Night'". She noticed a more minimalist melodic arrangement in the song than that in "Stay" or "The Middle".[11]
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 46. týden 2018 in the date selector. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 35. týden 2018 in the date selector. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 1. týden 2019 in the date selector. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 35. týden 2018 in the date selector. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
