Lithium

"Lithium"
Single by Lenny
Released:	December 03, 2021
Format:	Digital
Length:	2:49
Writer:	Lenka Filipová
Producer:	Mike Shinoda

"Lithium" is an upcoming single by Lenny that was produced by Mike Shinoda as a part of his ShinodaProduceMe initiative.

Background

Lenny (real name Lenka Filipová) is a singer and songwriter from Czech Republic. She began developing her musical skills at the age of four, wrote her first original song at 11 and began performing live by age 16 before studying at the Modern Music Institute in London, UK. Her breakthrough single "Hell.o" was named Song of the Year in her home country and she subsequently won six Andel Awards, the Czech equivalent of the Grammy's. She got to open for multiple big names, including Mike Shinoda during the Post Traumatic European Tour in Praha, Czech Republic on March 19, 2019. During Mike's set, she joined him on stage to sing "Make It Up As I Go".

"Lithium" was originally written on piano in 2017 and pre-produced by fiedlerski but was left unfinished. The song was then submitted to the #ShinodaProduceMe initiative and picked up by Mike who worked on the song live on Twitch on April 27 and 30, 2021.

After listening to this initial track, Mike Shinoda stated that no structural changes were needed and that the lyrics, vocal, and melody sounded excellent. He added reverb and effects to Lenny's vocal and edited the vocoder already present over the chorus as it wasn't properly correcting the pitch. He then focused on adding more energy to the track. He explained, "It's so much more energy. It went from being 'I'm so sad' to 'Oh, okay,' it's got a lot of groove... It still sounds meaningful, which is kind of the point. It still has to sound like it's retaining the emotion of the original, but you're not like crying on the dance floor." Mike wanted a drum selection with a Motown feel to help fill the track. He used his MIDI to create a vintage sounding drum track and added live tambourine. He did bass for the low end of the track and, lastly, re-recorded the original cello track as he thought it sounded too synthetic.

Release

"Lithium" was released as a digital single on December 3, 2021. The announcement came the day before. Lenny wrote, "Are you ready for tomorrow?! New single coming out midnight Thursday/Friday! 🔥 this single is super special to me and guess who produced it?? The one and only Mike Shinoda!! Somebody pinch me!"

Versions

Note: Only the date of the very first release of each version is listed.

Title	Album	Length	Recorded	Released	Notes
Lithium	Lithium	2:49	2017-2021	December 03, 2021	Produced by Mike Shinoda.

External Links

Making of: Part 1 | Part 2