Let me tell you what's going on in my life." And he just unloaded on us."Ībout Kiiara, he said, "I know Zane Lowe had put us together. And a few minutes later he was like, "You know what? No, I'm not fine. And were just like, "OK," and we just started talking. And I remember we came in and everyone was like "Oh, how's your day going," or whatever, and he goes, "Oh, fine," and there was kind of a beat. And when we sat with them, it was me and Chester and Brad, from our band, and then Julia and Justin. They can really write a catchy corny pop song, but they can also write a deep and meaningful, you know, something of another genre. Justin Tranter and Julia Michael, are most known for their pop stuff with Justin Bieber or Britney Spears, but they're actually versatile artists. We thought if it doesn't work, we'll just go back to the way we're doing it, but it turned out that we worked with a couple people that we really liked. So on this album, for the first time, we opened the door and let other people come in the studio. I wasn't really interested in somebody writing a song for us, but I just know that there is all these different people with all these different ideas and honestly, different approaches. And on this album, it occurred to me that there are all these songwriters out there that people work with. Speaking to Genius, Mike said about the song, "Up until this record, we always wrote our own stuff. So, if it’s too poppy for you, that’s my fault." We worked the chords and the melodies and the vocal melodies with them, but I did the production. A lot of people say ‘Oh, the song Heavy sounds like a pop song – it must be because of Justin and Julia’. Īs for the style of the song, Mike said, "A misconception about our process is that actually Justin and Julia’s contribution with us was only melodic and verbal. Mike felt that the key to the song was the line "If I just let go I'd be set free", as that lyric contains the idea of personal responsibility, which solidified the song's message and theme. He later described a day that Chester had come in to the studio and exclaimed that he felt overwhelmed by a myriad of problems. In an interview with Zach Sang, Mike Shinoda explained that the song is a core part of the album and described the message of the song with the proverb "when it rains it pours", talking about how "Heavy" is about the culmination of a singular, dramatic event and several smaller, less important problems. The band sent her some exclusive merch in the following month. She has mentioned Linkin Park as one of her influences and has been listening to their music since she was 5 years old. Her vocals were recorded over a 7 hour session in December 2016, a few days before Linkin Park left the studio. Mike explained, "if you hear another voice on it it would make it feel like it's coming from more than one person." They initially wanted Julia Michaels to sing on the song, but she declined, so they contacted Kiiara, who was introduced to the band by Zane Lowe when he was invited to the studio to hear the new music, and asked her to sing on it. I don't know if those are good directions, but there's something that feels out of the box for us it could give it that dynamic it needs." It was Joe who brought the idea up to the band, saying, "It could be interesting to maybe experiment with the vocals on the chorus, like bring in a female vocalist to add harmony would be cool. Ĭhester originally sang the whole song, but the band felt like it needed another perspective. Nashville songwriter, producer and engineer Emily Wright, who was announced to have contributed to the album in a November 2016 live feed on Facebook, was in charge of vocal recording. The song was written by Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson and Chester Bennington in collaboration with Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter. The title of "Heavy" was first seen in a picture posted (and immediately removed) by Joe Hahn on Apof Jon Green with a songboard behind him. The single was released three days after the lyrics, on February 16, 2017. It is one of Brad Delson's favorite songs on the album, along with " Sharp Edges". "Heavy" marks the first time Linkin Park shared the lyrics of a song online before its official release and their first song to feature female lead vocals. It was written in collaboration with Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter with Emily Wright being responsible for vocal recording and features guest vocals by Kiiara. "Heavy" is the sixth track and first single from One More Light. Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson, Emily Wright, Andrew Bolooki Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson, Chester Bennington, Julia Michaels, Justin Tranter