Wherever I Go (OneRepublic song)
Wherever I Go (OneRepublic song)
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Wherever I Go (OneRepublic song)

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Wherever I Go (OneRepublic song)

"Wherever I Go" is a song recorded by American pop rock band OneRepublic. It was released on May 13, 2016 through Mosley Music Group and Interscope Records as OneRepublic's first single after a long period of focus on the band's Native Tour, which had been extended in May 2014, resulting in the band's longest period between new releases. The song was revealed and released at the end of a week of teasers, as the lead single from the band's fourth studio album Oh My My (2016). It was written and produced by lead singer Ryan Tedder, bassist/cellist Brent Kutzle and producer Noel Zancanella. The song was recorded at Revolution Studio, Toronto, Ontario, and Ritz-Carlton, Moscow, Russia, with additional recording at Neptune Valley and Waterloo Studios, Los Angeles in 2015. "Wherever I Go" is a funk rock, synth-pop, electropop and new wave song, featuring piano lines and a funk-driven rhythm, with lyrics on obsessive love.

The single debuted at number 67 on the US Billboard Hot 100, before climbing several positions to its peak at number 55, marking the second time that a lead single from the band has not reached the top twenty on the Billboard charts. The song reached the top twenty in several other countries. Upon release, the song received universal acclaim from music critics, being praised for its bold production, danceable beats, unconventional instrumentation and Tedder's vocals. "Wherever I Go" has sold 3 million downloads and was certified double-platinum by the Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana for selling over 100,000 copies in Italy and certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry for selling over 400,000 copies in the UK. At the 2016 Teen Choice Awards, the song was nominated in the Choice Rock Song category.

The "Wherever I Go" music video, directed by Joseph Kahn accompanied the song's release. Following the aesthetic presented on the cover of the single, created by Brazilian street artist Speto, the video's theme is based on a quote from Henry David Thoreau's 1854 book Walden: "The mass of mankind lead lives of quiet desperation", and focuses on a day in the life of a Korean businessman (Kenneth Choi), stuck in his daily routine. The video scored several accolades; was nominated in the EMA's Best World Stage Performance category at the 2016 MTV Europe Music Awards and the Los 40 International Video of the Year category at the LOS40 Music Awards 2016.

The single's promotional campaign began in April 2016, when OneRepublic published several easter egg postcards involving the first single from their upcoming fourth album, Oh My My. On May 2, 2016, all the teasers were completed, and with that fans discovered the name of the song that would serve as the first single from OneRepublic's new album. Two days later, on Instagram, the band posted the single's working artwork, confirming "Wherever I Go" as the band's entry into their new era. The song was released to streaming services on May 13, with a premiere via iHeartRadio on May 12.

"Wherever I Go" was written and produced by Tedder, Kutzle and Zancanell, and runs for 2 minutes and 49 seconds, the shortest single OneRepublic had released at that point. The song features piano lines and a funk-driven rhythm, marking a new style for the band. Explaining why it was important the lead single be different from the rest of the new album, Ryan Tedder said to Wonderland, "I think it’s gonna be shocking, kind of the first response anyone has is their eyes are kind of spread open like ‘Oh my god’. It's not indicative of the entire album but it's kind of like if you go have dinner, you don't order steak for an appetizer and steak for dinner. You split it up, and you have different things. So the first single... it's definitely an appetizer, I think it's the best appetizer we could come up with."

Tedder sings here of not being able to find a love to match one that he once had. This previous relationship will always remain a "ghost in the room," whenever he gets together with a new girl. Tedder explained the song is about "obsession, and almost an unnatural, unhealthy level of obsession."

Speaking on BBC Radio 1, Tedder discussed how hard OneRepublic worked to make the song sound fresh and current, but still organic. "It's hard as an actual band to evolve and still keep the humanity in the instruments," he said. "So it's tricky. You wanna hear the bass player, you wanna hear the drummer, but you want it to sound modern at the same time. So it took...ages to crack that code." Speaking to NME, Ryan Tedder explained the background to the song's different sound: "We were listening to a lot of late '90s French and Italian disco records - stuff like Daft Punk, Cassius, Justice," he said. "We were also listening to a lot of Miike Snow and Mew and I became obsessed with the shape of those Scandinavian melodies, because they're so different to American gospel and other things that we've done. And so it was a combination of chasing those records with songs that are very bass and riff-driven that led us to 'Wherever I Go.'"

It felt like the first single because it's a more digestible version of some of the other stuff we've done for the album," Tedder added. "We could have put out other songs first that would have scared off a lot of our fans.

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