"Atlantis" | |||||||||||||||||
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Single by Bridgit Mendler featuring Kaiydo | |||||||||||||||||
from the album Nemesis | |||||||||||||||||
Released | August 26, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||
Format | Digital download | ||||||||||||||||
Genre | Alternative pop | ||||||||||||||||
Length | 3:49 | ||||||||||||||||
Label | Black Box | ||||||||||||||||
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Bridgit Mendler singles chronology | |||||||||||||||||
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"Atlantis" is a song recorded by American actress, singer, and songwriter Bridgit Mendler. Written by Mendler, Spencer Bastian, Mischa Chillak and Kaiydo, with Bastian and Chillak serving as producers, it was released as the lead single from the extended play, Nemesis (2016), through Black Box Media Agency on August 26, 2016. The song is widely considered to be written due to Mendler's split from former boyfriend Shane Harper.
"Atlantis" is mainly an alt pop song with R&B and electropop influences. According to Mendler, it discusses the capability of finding love, but feeling like it has disappeared like a lost city, therefore referencing the mythical city of Atlantis. The track was considered by music critics to be a radical departure from her previous work, which featured mainstream, pop music elements. Receiving critical acclaim, critics praised the atmosphere of the song and Mendler's tube distortion voice.
Along with a series of Twitter posts on her official account teasing the release of Atlantis, Mendler shared the following information concerning the song's production:
"So here's how Atlantis came about. I was working with Book, one of my producers, one day at his studio in Los Angeles. He started this beat that sounded like it was underwater. I imagined fish swimming through a deserted underwater city. Very triggering sonics, Book! I wrote the melody and then as Book and I started fitting the melody into the track, I wrote some rough lyrics. Honestly, we didn't have very high expectations of the song that day. About a month later, Book brought it up in a session we were doing with Spencer, my other producer. He wanted to work on it because he believed in it, and once Spencer and Book added some elements to the track and I tweaked some lyrics, the song came alive! After that it stood out to everyone as a favorite and I'm so excited for it to be the first song we share with you"
On the song, Mendler stated "I wrote 'Atlantis' frankly about feeling numb after heartbreak because that's what I was feeling that day we wrote it. Atlantis is a beautiful city that disappeared and was forgotten underwater. That is what it feels like to me to lose a first love. In the story, a remnant of that love is still haunting me even though it is 'asleep with the fishes.'" She also said to Idolator that "'Atlantis' is about knowing that I am capable of finding love, but feeling like it has disappeared like a lost city. I wanted to set a haunting tone to the lyrics because the song captures a very tumultuous and transformative time in my life. This song really takes ownership of that." On having Kaiydo rap in the song, Mendler said "I felt the song would be a good one to have a rapper counterpart to add a different perspective. Kaiydo met the tone of the song perfectly."