Strangers (Bring Me the Horizon song)

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"Strangers"
Single by Bring Me the Horizon
from the album Post Human: Nex Gen
Released6 July 2022 (2022-07-06)
Recorded2022
Genre
Length3:15
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Bring Me the Horizon singles chronology
"Bad Life"
(2022) 		"Strangers"
(2022) 		"Lost"
(2023)
Music video
"Strangers" on YouTube

"Strangers" (stylised as "sTraNgeRs") is a song by British rock band Bring Me the Horizon. Produced by Zakk Cervini, BloodPop and Evil Twin, it was released as the second single from the group's upcoming 2024 commercial release Post Human: Nex Gen on 6 July 2022.[1][2][3]

Promotion and release[edit]

On 27 May 2022, the band unveiled an edited version of "Strangers" for the first time during a DJ set at their Malta Weekender Festival.[4][5] The band were originally meant to release the single prior to the festival but were unable to due to not being able to shoot a music video in time.[6] On 22 June, they formally announced the official release date of "Strangers" for 6 July 2022.[7] On the day of the song's release, "Strangers" was premiered on BBC Radio 1 during Clara Amfo's "Future Sounds" segment as the "Hottest Record" ahead of the music video being released an hour later.[8][9]

Composition and lyrics[edit]

"Strangers" has been described by critics as pop-punk,[10][11][12] alternative rock,[12][13] pop rock,[14] hard rock,[15] and an emo song.[16] The song was written by the band's lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, keyboardist Jordan Fish, guitarist Lee Malia, Caroline Ailin and BloodPop, while it was produced by Zakk Cervini, BloodPop and Evil Twin. The song touches on the different kinds of trauma in its lyrical content and how Sykes wanted to use that to bring people with mental health problems together.[17] Sykes explained his thought process on how the song came together:

"The song came out of a long writing trip in LA, and as soon as the lyric 'we're just a room full of strangers' came it took on such a deeper double meaning – how it would feel to be performing it live as that's what it is.. all strangers connecting on this mad level.. and that it was like rehab. Coming out of lockdown and the pandemic, everyone is recovering from something and I'm so aware that so many people struggle daily with differing traumas, and just wanted to stress that they're not in this alone… and we're a community here to help each other."[1]

In an interview with Maniacs, Fish expressed his feelings about what "Strangers" meant to him and the band in terms of the importance of their musical progression:

"Writing Strangers didn't feel like just writing another song, it felt like writing the most important song of our career and it felt like that on the last one and the one before that. We have that feeling all of the time. We don't want to drop a shit song. We don't want someone to say "oh that sounds like a boring progression". We do try and push it forward, because we care about the band and what we're putting out."[18]

Music video[edit]

The official music video for "Strangers" was premiered on YouTube one hour after the single was released on 6 July 2022. The video was directed by Thomas James, marking this the first time Sykes hasn't had music video directorial duties since "Mother Tongue".[19]

The band asked fans to anonymously share their own personal struggles and stories that the band used to inspire the disturbing narrative and visuals that transpire in the music video.[20] The music video for "Strangers" features disturbing visuals of people being overtaken by alien-like viruses in desolated warehouses, suffering in pain while their faces are being horrifically mutated into contorted figures. The band perform the song simultaneously as the video alternates between the various scenes. Revolver compared the video to the likes of a Saw film crossed with Alien.[21] The video was also noted of taking inspiration from the classic dark rock videos of the 1990s.[22]

Personnel[edit]

Credits adapted from Tidal.[23]

Bring Me the Horizon

Additional personnel

Charts[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Neale, Matthew (6 July 2022). "Bring Me The Horizon share powerful video for new single 'Strangers'". NME. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  2. ^ Carter, Emily (6 July 2022). "Bring Me The Horizon drop new single sTraNgeRs and personal music video". Kerrang!. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  3. ^ Carter, Emily (10 June 2023). "Bring Me The Horizon announce new album and arena tour". Kerrang!. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  4. ^ Lee, Abigail (27 May 2022). "Oli Sykes Unveils New Bring Me The Horizon Track "Strangers" During DJ Set At Malta Weekender Festival". Mxdwn. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  5. ^ Krol, Charlotte (27 May 2022). "Watch Bring Me the Horizon debut new song 'Strangers' at Malta festival". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  6. ^ "hmmmmmmmmm". (Wayback Machine). 22 May 2022. Archived from the original on 23 September 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  7. ^ Brannigan, Paul (23 June 2022). "Listen to Bring Me The Horizon's teaser for new single Strangers". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  8. ^ "Bring Me The Horizon Hottest Record". BBC Radio 1. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  9. ^ "BRING ME THE HORIZON Releases New Single 'Strangers'". Blabbermouth.net. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  10. ^ Garro, Adrian (6 July 2022). "Bring Me The Horizon Updates Mid-2000s Emo/Punk with Anthemic New Song "sTraNgeRs"; Tour This Fall". Rock Cellar. Retrieved 22 August 2022. Pairing an emo-styled pop-punk structure with a soaring chorus and lyrics about mental health and internal struggles, it's an example of the group taking what's been done before (in this case, the Warped Tour scene of the mid-2000s) and updating it with that BMTH energy.
  11. ^ "Bring Me The Horizon aim for the masses with new song, "sTrAnGeRs"". NewFuryMedia. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022. Interestingly, the song seems influenced by modern pop-punk (and pop-punk adjacent) acts like nothing,nowhere in particular.
  12. ^ a b Sullivan, Kelsey (11 July 2022). "Bring Me The Horizon Gets Personal On Their Mid-2000s Inspired Single "Strangers"". Soundigest. Retrieved 22 August 2022. Sonically, "Strangers" leans more into pop-punk and alt rock territory than some of Bring Me The Horizon's previous projects.
  13. ^ Newstead, Al (7 July 2022). "Bring Me The Horizon's new single 'sTraNgeRs' is built for singing your guts out to". Triple J. Retrieved 22 August 2022. It's called 'sTraNgeRs' (as the Sheffield quintet stylise it), and finds BMTH leaning into an anthemic alt-rock mode.
  14. ^ Aarons, Ricky (7 July 2022). "Bring Me The Horizon Share Radio-Rock Single 'sTrAnGeRs'". Wall of Sound. Retrieved 22 August 2022. Following on from 'Die4U', BMTH have continued down the pop-rock territory with 'sTrAnGeRs', with Oli Sykes leading with his raspy cleans and the band tuned into radio-rock mode.
  15. ^ Lawrence Guzman, Richard (1 August 2022). "BRING ME THE HORIZON Release New Single "sTraNgeRs", Touring North America This Fall". Glasse Factory. Retrieved 15 November 2022. A hard rocking heart-breaking tune that chronicles a conversation between lovers who are at their breaking point.
  16. ^ Childers, Chad (6 July 2022). "Bring Me the Horizon Reveal Emo-Leaning 'sTraNgeRs' Song + Video". Loudwire. Retrieved 22 August 2022. He then taught the crowd the emo-leaning lines, "We're just a room full of strangers / Looking for something to save us / Alone together."
  17. ^ Partridge, Ken (7 July 2022). "Bring Me The Horizon Find Catharsis In Community On New Song "sTraNgeRs"". Genius. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  18. ^ Harris, Brenton (12 July 2022). "INTERVIEW - TALKING GOOD THINGS & STRANGERS WITH JORDAN FISH OF BRING ME THE HORIZON". Maniacs. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  19. ^ Ulitski, Rob (14 July 2022). "Bring Me The Horizon 'Strangers' by Thomas James". Promo News. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  20. ^ Holland, Nora (7 July 2022). "WATCH: Bring Me The Horizon share fan-inspired video for 'sTraNgeRs'". Hot Press. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  21. ^ Enis, Eli (6 July 2022). "See Bring Me the Horizon's Horrifying, NSFW Video For New Song "Strangers"". Revolver. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  22. ^ "Inner Demons Come to Life in Surreally Twisted Bring Me The Horizon Video". IBBOnline. 13 July 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  23. ^ "Credits/Strangers/Bring Me the Horizon". Tidal. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  24. ^ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 18 July 2022". The ARIA Report. No. 1689. Australian Recording Industry Association. 18 July 2022. p. 9.
  25. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 202230 into search. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  26. ^ "Radio No9 Charts [Week 37/2022]". Radio-No9. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  27. ^ "HOT 40 SINGLES". Recorded Music NZ. 18 July 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  28. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  29. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  30. ^ "Bring Me the Horizon Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  31. ^ "Bring Me the Horizon Chart History (Rock Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  32. ^ "Year-End Charts: Hot Hard Rock Songs (2022)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  33. ^ "Year-End Charts: Mainstream Rock Airplay Songs (2022)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
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