Clarity is the debut studio album by Russian-German electronic dance musician Zedd, released on
2 October 2012 by Interscope Records.
A deluxe edition of the album was released on 24 September 2013, preceded by the release
of the single "Stay the Night", which features Hayley Williams of Paramore, on 10 September
2013.
Upon its release, the album garnered mixed reviews from critics.
Clarity spawned five officially-released singles and two promotional singles, "Stache" and
"Fall Into the Sky".
"Shave It", the album's lead single, peaked at number four on the US Hot Dance Club Songs
chart.
It was followed by "Spectrum", which topped the Hot Dance Club Songs chart.
"Clarity", the record's title track and third single, was issued in 2013, and reached into
the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 at number eight.
"Stay the Night" was the lead single of the deluxe edition of the album, and also charted
on the Hot 100, reaching the Top 20 with a peak of number eighteen.
"Push Play" was the second single from the deluxe version, and the last single from the
album overall.
Promotion Singles
"Shave It" was released by OWSLA as a single on 4 October 2011 and as an extended play,
including remixes by Kaskade, Tommy Trash and 501, on 8 November 2011.
The track was shortened and renamed "Shave It Up" for inclusion on the album.
The official music video premiered on 1 November 2011.
An extended mix of "Shave It Up" was released exclusively on Beatport on 22 October 2012.
"Spectrum" was released as the lead single from the album on 4 June 2012 by Interscope
Records.
The song reached number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs, and the official video
premiered on 15 August 2012.
The EP, released on 31 July 2012, contains 7 remixes from artists such as A-Trak, Armin
van Buuren, Arty, Deniz Koyu and Congorock among others, alongside an acoustic version
of the track, an extended version of the track and Zedd's collaboration with Nicky Romero,
"Human".
A remix contest was hosted on Beatport, receiving over 2000 entries.
The winning remix was by Shreddie Mercury, who also received an official release.
"Clarity" was released as the album's third single on 1 February 2013.
The song gained publicity after being performed alongside Alvin Risk on the Late Show with
David Letterman on 3 January 2013.
A music video directed by Jodeb was released on 11 January 2013.
"Stay the Night" was released as a single from the deluxe edition of the album and the
fourth single overall on 10 September 2013.
A preview of the song was uploaded to Zedd's official VEVO channel on 4 September 2013
and the music video on 23 September 2013.
Other songs "Stache" is a promotional single from the
album.
The official music video premiered on 2 October 2012.
The extended mix was the first to be released as a single exclusively on Beatport on 9 October
2012.
The video itself revolves around a foreign scientist hiding in an abandoned building,
who's trying to finish creating an antimatter bomb called the "Clandon Particle", while
U.S. forces in the country are trying to stop him from finishing it.
As soldiers surround the area, the scientist is forced to detonate the entire building,
in which he ultimately dies.
Throughout the entire video, the events are being broadcast on live television; small
clips throughout the video show the head of national security addressing the entire country
about the events as they happen.
Near the end of the video, several people are revealed to have been watching the live
events on television, all seemingly proud.
Andy Kellman of AllMusic said that Zedd was "not quite in a field of his own yet" and
that "'Stache' shamelessly displays the [Zedd]'s indebtedness to key Justice influence Daft
Punk – it might as well be subtitled "Aerodynamic 2K12" – but he's getting there" but concluded
with the statement that "Anyone who appreciates well-crafted dance-pop should probably keep
up with him" and gave Clarity four out of five stars.
MTV Iggy wrote "['Stache''s] climbing synth chords matches the tension and confusion while
plentiful bass packs a powerful punch.
We hold our breaths down to the very last minute – and ‘til the awesome end-of-song-breakdown."
Vocals by Lady Gaga were posted by her on SoundCloud on 6 October 2012.
She then asked fans to pair the vocal track with "Stache" and selected a winner.
The track concludes with "DJ Zedd/ Anton, turn it up/ Let's party, let's get messed
up".
Jocelyn Vena of MTV said the remix was a "crunchy, at times light-hearted track, which features
Gaga over the EDM star's grinding, dirty production."
"Codec" is featured in the 2013 film Now You See Me and included on the accompanying soundtrack
album.
The song was also used in an advert for the Beats Pill.
"Fall Into the Sky" was released as a free "Song of the Week" on the UK iTunes Store
for the week ending 23 February 2014, to promote the UK release of the deluxe edition of Clarity.
Extended mixes A different extended mix from the album was
released exclusively to Beatport each week for eight weeks, starting on 9 October 2012
and ending on 26 November 2012.
All tracks were given new extended versions with the exceptions of "Spectrum" and "Hourglass".
Critical reception Clarity was met with mixed reception from
critics.
Philip Sherburne of Spin rated the album a five out of ten, stating how the release contains
"45 minutes of twists and turns and come-ups and codas get exhausting, and from a production
perspective, there's little innovation here", which he has listen to "these sirens, whooshes,
and fizzy synths a million times."
At Sputnikmusic, Will Robinson rated the album two stars out of five, indicating how "The
redeeming qualities of Clarity exist, but they're minor and not enough to keep the album's
head above water."
Andy Kellman of AllMusic rated the album four stars out of five, writing how "Anyone who
appreciates well-crafted dance-pop should probably keep up with him."
At Gigwise, Peter Kandunias rated the album four stars out of ten, saying how "all sounding
incredibly similar, the songs blur into one and thus 'Clarity' really lacks any clarity
whatsoever."
Daniel Shaw of EDM Insider gave album an A+, indicating how the project "Not only does
Zedd explore a wide magnitude of sounds and feels in his creative work, but he manages
to create a cohesive album."
Track listing Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Clarity.
Charts Release history
Standard Edition Deluxe Edition
References