The Crimson Chapter EP

*The Crimson Chapter EP*
The Crimson Chapter EP
EP by Mike Shinoda
Recorded:	2022-2023
Released:	December 1, 2023
Length:	21:20
Producer:	Mike Shinoda
Label:	Warner Records

The Crimson Chapter EP is an EP released by Mike Shinoda in December 2023 mostly centered around his song "Already Over." The EP is stylized in all capital letters as, "THE CRIMSON CHAPTER."

Background

In 2023, Mike Shinoda released a few tracks of his own - "In My Head" with Kailee Morgue earlier in the year and "Already Over" in October. The EP is a culmination of Mike putting the tracks together for a release and reinterpreting / remixing "Already Over" and a 2019 single of his, "Fine."

Composition

The EP is composed of eight songs, six of which have to deal with "Already Over." The first song is titled "Already Over (Crimson Intro)" and is an instrumental intro to the album that features "The Catalyst"-style piano before going into a beat breakdown and ending similar to "Brooding" from Post Traumatic. Like "Brooding", "Already Over (Crimson Intro)" changes directions halfway through and goes from quiet to loud. Track two is the standard version of "Already Over."

Track three is the "Already Over (Reorganized Mix)" which is a fully reinterpreted remix by Mike featuring vocal samples from the song over a new beat and sounds. The fourth song is "fine (Finer Mix)", bringing a new version of Mike's 2019 single released around Halloween. The song begins with piano reminiscent of "After Canada", a 2005 Linkin Park demo. While not as dark as the original track, the remix gives a new take on the song.

Perhaps the biggest highlight of the EP is "Already Over (Fort Minor Mix) [feat. Dom McLennon]", featuring Dom from Brockhampton. Interestingly, Mike goes back to use the Fort Minor title on this song, perhaps a nod to the rap-nature of the remix as several Post Traumatic songs began as Fort Minor tracks, like "I.O.U." and "Lift Off." This is the first release with the Fort Minor name since "Welcome" in 2015, although Mike in 2017 was originally planning for a fall 2017 release of Fort Minor songs which ended up on Post Traumatic.

Mike has a brand new verse on the track. About the song, he says, "If you asked Dom about it, too, we have been dying to do something together for years at this point. I met Dom when I was on tour with my solo album Post Traumatic and I was doing some festival shows and Brockhampton was playing. I love Brockhampton, so I went over there to see their show. Afterwards, I met a few of the guys and they're like, "Oh man, we love Linkin Park" and I love Brockhampton, so we just got talking. Of the folks that I've met from their collective, Dom and I keep in touch the most. So this has felt like a natural thing. I actually wasn't intending to put any features on The Crimson Chapter EP, but the thing that would make the song better would be him." The shows Mike is referring to is Reading Festival and Leeds Festival in 2018, where Dom tweeted at Mike, "Please come see our show at Reading/Leeds @mikeshinoda."^[1]

Following the guest appearance on track five, the sixth song is "In My Head" from earlier in 2023. Mike said that the songs naturally went together - "Already Over" and "In My Head" for the era of music he is making. The seventh song is the "Already Over (Nothing's There Mix)" which is an instrumental remix using a few elements of the main song. To close the EP out, Mike put "Already Over (Part 2)" as the final song with a Nine Inch Nails-sounding version that features new vocals and lyrics.

Mike explained the overall EP saying, "It was built on the idea of taking "Already Over" and doing remixes and interpretations so that we can support the song - not to distract from the song, but support it and make the world of this song bigger. It's eight tracks and most of them are the one song. And there's a remix of "fine" and we put "In My Head" on there as well."^[2]

Talking about putting the EP together, Mike said, "I think it's pretty different. I've done a lot of remixes, going all the way back to Reanimation. Our remix album for Hybrid Theory was called Reanimation. I grew up listening to alternate versions and remixes from like Nine Inch Nails, who Trent Reznor would remix like everything they did. They'd put out an album then they'd have this crazy remix album with like, avant-garde noise versions of the songs. And then entirely new versions of the songs that are so different they are almost like an entirely new song. Fast-forward from there to stuff like... a lot of hip hop artists in the 90's where they'd do a remix version and put all these different people on it and make almost a brand new song. There were remixes of Biggie songs that were not anything like the original. It was an entirely new song and they'd just put the old name on it. I think because I grew up on a lot of that stuff, I like the idea of taking something familiar and making it more interesting."^[2]

Releases

On November 10, 2023 at midnight, Apple Music posted "The Crimson Chapter EP" for preorder with the artwork.^[3]^[4]

Mike Shinoda announced the release later on November 10, 2023 on social media and released "Already Over (Fort Minor Mix) [feat. Dom McLennon]" with the announcement. He said, "Already Over (Fort Minor Mix) [feat. Dom McLennon] // OUT NOW https://mshnd.co/AOFM Pre-save THE CRIMSON CHAPTER EP // OUT DECEMBER 1st - All tracks remixed by me https://mshnd.co/CrimsonChapter"^[5] He also announced the tracklist twelve hours later on social media.^[6]

The EP was released digitally on December 1, 2023. As of now, there are no physical releases announced for the EP.

Artwork

Mike said "The Crimson Chapter EP" has its own aesthetic and style to it. In his promotional images, he used a lot of red, white, and black imagery centered around dark vibes like pulling his eyelids downward, blood coming out of his eyes, and more. Some of the photos of Mike are goofy, like putting on sunglasses and smiling into the camera.

When posting the artwork, he said, "Crimson can symbolize vigor, courage, anger, and blood…I just felt drawn to it in the context of my recent releases. This chapter takes some of my favorite things about releasing music—the songs, games, challenges, and visuals—and assembles them in a different way."^[7] Photographer Mike Miller took the photos for "Already Over" and the EP.

Track Listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1	Already Over (Crimson Intro)	Michael Kenji Shinoda	2:11
2	Already Over	Shinoda	2:40
3	Already Over (Reorganized Mix)	Shinoda	1:52
4	fine (Finer Mix)	Shinoda	3:23
5	Already Over (Fort Minor Mix) [feat. Dom McLennon]	Shinoda, Fort Minor, Dom McLennon	2:43
6	In My Head	Shinoda, Kailee Morgue	2:52
7	Already Over (Nothing's There Mix)	Shinoda	3:07
8	Already Over (Part 2)	Shinoda	2:32