OK (Anxiety Anthem)

"OK (Anxiety Anthem)" is a song by English singer Mabel for her debut studio album High Expectations (2019). It was released as the album's third single alongside the album's release.[1]

"OK (Anxiety Anthem)"
Single by Mabel
from the album High Expectations
Released2 August 2019 (2019-08-02)
Recorded2018
StudioMajor Tom's (London, United Kingdom)
Genre
Length3:36
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Mabel singles chronology
"Mad Love"
(2019)		 "OK (Anxiety Anthem)"
(2019)		 "God Is a Dancer"
(2019)
Music video
"OK (Anxiety Anthem)" on YouTube

Background

Mabel wrote "OK (Anxiety Anthem)" in 2018 with MNEK and Maria Hazell.[2] It took Mabel years to figure out how to write it.[3] Mabel considerer's the song her most personal song and it was the most challenging song she had ever written.[1] Mabel spoke to Metro about the song[2]:

It was difficult. I wrote OK (Anxiety Anthem) and was processing how to write that song and I sort of looked at anxiety as something like “one day it’s going to be gone” and I was embarrassed and ashamed.

You can’t really hide when you’re doing what I do. I thought you can’t have those days and it was this constant turmoil of not being my full authentic self, because that side of me, that vulnerable part, it doesn’t make me weak. I was like “That can’t be a part of this” because I’m trying to flip my hair and be that perfect popstar and then realised actually it doesn’t make me weak or less strong. It was literally last year when I wrote OK. I was going through a difficult time. And I think writing an album sometimes – since you spend all day every day talking about your feelings and picking them apart – and it got to a point where I thought “Aaah, what am I doing?

I woke up and had a session with Emike and Maria Hazell and I was like, “I have two options: I can get up today, put some make up on and go and just be like everything’s great and come home and collapse” or I can just go and be a mess and tell them I’m a mess. And I did that.

Composition

"OK (Anxiety Anthem)" is a tropical house and pop ballad with jazz influenced chorus.[4][5][6] It features a "clipped guitar and airy beats".[7] It was written in the key of A-flat minor with a tempo of 99 beats per minute.[8] Lyrically the song is about "accepting that you’re not always going to feel ok".[1]

Music video

A Spotify vertical video for the song accompanied the songs release.[9] The song's official music video was released on 16 August 2019 through Dazed.[1] The black and white video was directed by Jade Jackman.[10][11]

Track listing
Digital download
No.TitleLength
1."OK (Anxiety Anthem)"3:36
Digital download – Stripped[12]
No.TitleLength
1."OK (Anxiety Anthem)" (Stripped)3:44

Credits and personnel

Recording locations

Personnel
  • Mabel – songwriting, vocals
  • MNEK – production, songwriting, backing vocals, recording, drum and key programming
  • Maria Hazell – songwriting
  • Koz – drums, synths, production
  • Cameron Gower Poole – vocal production, recording
  • Leo Kalyan – drum and key programming, additional production
  • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing
  • Michael Freeman – mix assistant
  • Matt Snell – assistant engineering
  • Stuart Hawkes – mastering

Credits adapted from the liner notes of High Expectations.[13]

Release history
Region Date Format Version Label Ref.
Various 2 August 2019
Original
[14]
30 August 2019 Stripped [12]
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References
  1. "Premiere: Mabel's mental health-tackling 'OK, Anxiety Anthem' music video". Dazed. 2019-08-16. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  2. "Mabel's need to be herself made her stop being 'embarrassed' of her anxiety". Metro. 2019-09-04. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  3. MabelVEVO (2019-08-08). "Mabel - High Expectations Diaries: Track by Track". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  4. "Album Review: Mabel – High Expectations | Gigwise". www.gigwise.com. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  5. Petridis, Alexis (2019-08-01). "Mabel: High Expectations review – confident pop lacks personality | Alexis Petridis's album of the week". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  6. "Mabel – 'High Expectations' album review". NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM. 2019-08-02. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  7. "Review: Mabel makes a pitch for pop stardom on High Expectations". The Face. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  8. "Key & BPM for OK (Anxiety Anthem) by Mabel | Tunebat". tunebat.com. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  9. Mabel [@mabel] (2019-08-03). "This was the most challenging song to write because it's about something I spent so long feeling embarrassed about. Feeling low is ok and it can even make us stronger Watch the OK vertical video on @Spotify Album is out now, I hope you love it Mabel.lnk.to/PopRising pic.twitter.com/0tY03hES7w" (Tweet). Retrieved 2020-03-19 – via Twitter.
  10. "Mabel releases music video for 'OK (Anxiety Anthem)'". CelebMix. 2019-08-17. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  11. MabelVEVO (2019-08-16). "Mabel - OK (Anxiety Anthem)". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  12. Stripped Session - Single by Mabel, retrieved 2020-03-19
  13. High Expectations (Media notes). Mabel. Polydor Records. 2019. p. 5. B003037602.CS1 maint: others (link)
  14. High Expectations by Mabel, retrieved 2020-03-19
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