Spectrum

“	I'd been playing the piano a little bit, and I came up with that chord progression. I didn't know what type of song it would be in the end, but I knew the chord progression I wanted. I wasn't sure if it would be a really hard club song or end up being a song for another artist. I started producing the track, and it became what it is now. I feel like it sums up my album the best so far. It has vocals. It has instrumental parts. It has everything. I decided "Spectrum" should be the first single since it shows what the album will be about so well.	”
–Zedd during an interview with ARTISTdirect

Spectrum
General information
Artist(s)	Zedd (feat. Matthew Koma)
Written by	Anton Zaslavski Matthew Koma
Produced by	Zedd
Length	4:03
Singles	"Spectrum" "Clarity" "Stay the Night"
Promotional singles	"Stache" "Codec" "Fall Into the Sky"

"Spectrum" is a single by electronic dance music producer Zedd featuring American vocalist Matthew Koma. It was released on June 4, 2012, and serves as the first single from Zedd's debut studio album, Clarity. An acoustic version of the song is also included on the producer's ITunes Session extended play.

Background

After Koma finished touring with LMFAO, he emailed Zedd saying he wanted to work together again. Zedd had finished producing the instrumental for "Spectrum" and brought Koma to the studio to show him the beat. According to Zedd, "he was singing along, and I heard parts of the melody which I liked. I forced him to stay a few hours even though he was tired as shit." Though they had the melody down at that point, it took them several weeks to finalize the lyrics.

Lyrics

• Clarity
• iTunes Session

Breathing you in when I want you out
Finding our truth in a hope of doubt
Lying inside our quiet drama

Wearing your heart like a stolen dream
Opening skies with your broken keys
No one can blind us any longer

We'll run where lights won't chase us
Hide where love can save us
I will never let you go

We'll run where lights won't chase us
Hide where love can save us
I will never let you go

Breathing you in when I want you out
Finding our truth in a hope of doubt
Lying inside our quiet drama

Breathing you in when I want you out
Finding our truth in a hope of doubt
Lying inside our quiet drama

Wearing your heart like a stolen dream
Opening skies with your broken keys
No one can blind us any longer

We'll run where lights won't chase us
Hide where love can save us
I will never let you go

We'll run where lights won't chase us
Hide where love can save us
I will never let you go

We'll run where lights won't chase us
Hide where love can save us
I will never let you go

Breathing you in when I want you out
Finding our truth in a hope of doubt
Lying inside our quiet drama

Breathing you in when I want you out
Finding our truth in a hope of doubt
Lying inside our quiet drama

Wearing your heart like a stolen dream
Opening skies with your broken keys
No one can blind us any longer

We'll run where lights won't chase us
Hide where love can save us
I will never let you go

We'll run where lights won't chase us
Hide where love can save us
I will never let you go

We can exist on an empty stage
We don't need sound to invent our sake
Healing us blank into a corner

Tracing the skin that defends your face
Wrestle the walls that pretend they're safe
Soak in the sand that pulls us under

We'll run where lights won't chase us
Hide where love can save us
I will never let you go

We'll run where lights won't chase us
Hide where love can save us
I will never let you go

Oh no, I will never let you go, I will never let you
I will never let you go, I will never let you
I will never let you go, I will never let you go

Oh no, I will never let you go, I will never let you
I will never let you go, I will never let you
I will never let you go, I will never let you go

Oh ooh
Oh

We'll run where lights won't chase us
Hide where love can save us
I will never let you go

We'll run where lights won't chase us
Hide where love can save us
I will never let you go

Breathing you in when I want you out
Finding our truth in a hope of doubt
Lying inside our quiet drama

Videos

“	I wanted the video to capture the ever-changing energy and emotion of the song through real human feelings ... It takes you on a journey through love, loss, contentment and anxiety. Musically, the chord progression I wrote captured the feeling and tension, unpredictability and the unknown. The video portrays this through a relationship between a man (human) and woman (alien) and the dynamics/excitement between the two of them.	”
–Zedd while discussing the music video with Rolling Stone

On June 4, 2012, the song's lyric video was released onto YouTube.

Ten days later, on June 14, Zedd's piano cover of the song was posted.

A behind-the-scenes video for the music video was released on July 25, 2012.

The official music video for the song premiered on August 15, 2012. The video chronicles the story of an alien (Taryn Manning) who lands on Earth and is taken in by a human man (Derek Magyar). They fall madly in love but are forced to go on the run after others begin to figure out their secret. At the end of the video, Manning's character supposedly returns home after she and Magyar's character rediscover her ship.

On September 2, 2013, an acoustic version was released onto YouTube.

Zedd - Spectrum (Lyric Video) ft. Matthew Koma

Zedd - Spectrum (Piano Version)

Zedd - Making Of "Spectrum" Music Video

Zedd - Spectrum (Official Video) ft. Matthew Koma

Matthew Koma, Zedd - Spectrum (Acoustic Version)

Controversy

• In December 2012, Zedd called out English music producer Rameses B's song "Come & Go", accusing him of having ripped off "Spectrum" due to similar chord progressions in both songs. This led to controversy among fans of both, some siding with Zedd and others siding with Monstercat, the record label through which Rameses B released the song.

Gallery

Other versions

SM The Performance

Six people, under the project name SM The Performance, released a Korean version of "Spectrum" on December 30, 2012.

livetune Remix feat. Hatsune Miku

Main article: Livetune

Main article: Hatsune Miku

There is also a Japanese remix of the song, which features English vocals by Hatsune Miku and is featured in the Japanese release of Clarity.

After proclaiming himself to be a Zedd fan on Twitter, livetune (the producer of the remix) was asked by Universal Media Japan to create a "Spectrum" remix. It took two days to complete, and Zedd, after hearing it, commented that it was truly a professional's work. He also commented that the remix was the only one he'd heard before that fit Spectrum's melody.

Universal Media Japan uploaded the original short version featuring backing vocals from Matthew Koma onto its YouTube channel on February 7, 2013. The full version was uploaded on February 25, 2013.

Extended play

Main article: Spectrum (EP)

An extended play of the track – featuring remixes by Armin van Buuren, Arty, Deniz Koyu, and Congorock – was released on July 31, 2012. It also features a track titled "Human" (a collaboration with Nicky Romero), which was also released as a single on July 31.