Released 3 December 2015 Recorded 2015 Length 3:32 | Format CD
digital download Genre Electronica Label Mer Musikk | |
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"Faded" is a song by Norwegian record producer and DJ Alan Walker. The release date of the single was originally set to be 25 November, but "due to circumstances out of Walker's control", it was delayed until 3 December. The song was highly successful, peaking in the top ten in most of the countries it charted in, and reached the summit in more than ten.
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Walker débuted a live performance of "Faded" with Norwegian vocalist Iselin Solheim and string support on 27 February 2016 at X Games Oslo 2016. The performance was aired live on Norwegian television.
Background
The song is a revamped version of Walker's past track "Fade", which was released via the record label NoCopyrightSounds in 2014. While the structure and melody are almost identical, "Faded" is noticeably different for its piano intro; with vocals by Iselin Solheim and improved production.
The song is set in common time and has a tempo of 90 beats per minute. Having the chord progression of E♭m–B–G♭–D♭, the song is written in the key of E♭ minor.
Commercial performance
"Faded" became a worldwide commercial success upon its release, topping Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish singles charts, as well as entering the top 3 in the Danish singles chart. The song peaked at number one in more than ten countries and in the top 5 in more than 25 countries.
It also charted in various countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It also reached number one on the Shazam Worldwide Top 100 Popular Songs in February 2016, and by March 2016, had become the world's most Shazamed song.
Its music video on YouTube has over 970 million views, and has reached the list of Top 40 most liked YouTube videos with over 5.9 million likes, along with the highest like-to-dislike ratio of 97.62% as of 2 March 2017. It has also reached the list of the most viewed YouTube videos.
On Spotify, "Faded" has over 590 million streams as of February 2017, and has reached the list of the top 50 most streamed songs on Spotify.
Music video
A music video was released, featuring Shahab Salehi as the protagonist. The video was shot in Rummu quarry in Estonia, and produced and edited by Bror Bror and directed by Rikkard and Tobias Häggbom, with Rikkard Häggbom also as director of photography.
The video shows a young man dressed in black bloc styled attire including a mask, roaming with his backpack and a photograph of his home in his hand. He wanders through abandoned areas including high rise devastated buildings and derelict structures, an S.O.S. flare is used by him at one point to explore a dark building. Guided by the photo, he finally locates his home, but finds it in ruins. With a final look at his home, he removes his mask, as the video fades to black.
Filming locations
The video was filmed in Estonia, and primarily concentrated on buildings that were derelict, abandoned, or in disrepair. Most filming locations are interspersed across the video and do not appear in a continuous order.
Notable locations include the Linnahall building (built from limestone), a disused textile manufacture and live concert building at Põhja puiestee 7 in Tallinn; the former Rummu prison, Rummu limestone quarry and lake alongside the adjoining spoil tip in Vasalemma Parish; and some locations around the city of Paldiski. The last shot features the ruins of a building near the shore on Pakri Peninsula just outside Paldiski, on the outskirts of Laoküla village, Keila Parish (59.327337°N 24.103941°E / 59.327337; 24.103941 (Laoküla)).
Faded (Restrung)
On 11 February 2016, Alan Walker published an acoustic version of "Faded", called "Faded (Restrung)". The song is performed with a piano and strings, with all the EDM elements taken out. Walker wrote in a note to The FADER, that he had decided on an alternative version of Faded, so as "to highlight other aspects of the song; to present it to another audience who may like Iselin [Solheim]'s voice and the melodies, but can't stand the electronic parts of it".
The music video to "Restrung" features Walker, Iselin Solheim and an 11-person string ensemble performing in the reactor hall of the dismantled R1, Sweden's first nuclear reactor. The cast were wearing the trademark hoodies that sport Alan Walker's artist logo composed of his stylized initials. The R1 reactor hall is located underground at Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm.
The same team who created the video for "Faded", also made the music video for "Restrung" — Bror Bror was the producer, Rikkard and Tobias Häggbom directed, and Shahab Salehi was credited as an assistant. The filming atmosphere closely resembles that of "Faded"; according Alan Walker's behind the scenes video, the "Restrung" video was filmed as a continuation of sorts to the original "Faded" video.