OneRepublic return with new single Wherever I Go: First listen review

Given OneRepublic’s extremely above average output over the last few years (and that includes frontman Ryan Tedder’s cuts for other artists - Beyonce's Halo, Ella Henderson's Ghost, etc), the prospect of a fresh lead single from the band is an exciting one.

Ahead of its radio premiere, OfficialCharts.com were given an early listen to the song. It’s called Wherever I Go, and true to form, it doesn’t disappoint.

The track has many of the hallmarks of a OneRepublic hit (our first play summary of it was "stadium pop-rock stomper"), but repeated listens unearth some interesting shifts in their sound.

In a recent interview with Wonderland magazine, Ryan mentioned he’d been inspired by the indie-pop-electronic sounds of Sigur Ros and Miike Snow, and there’s certainly hints of their style in Wherever I Go’s synth-juddering verses and funereal piano thuds.

Lyrically, as Ryan said in the same interview, it’s about an "unnatural, unhealthy level of obsession" with a person. “I know I could lie but I’m telling the truth, wherever I go there’s a shadow of you,” he sings on the sweeping intro, while in the first verse he reveals: “I come alive when I’m close to the madness”. It sounds pretty sinister, but OneRepublic being OneRepublic, it’s also relentlessly catchy and hugely radio friendly (clocking in a just under three minutes!).

Wherever I Go will be released on May 13. In typical quirkly Ryan Tedder fashion, he's described the accompanying music video (directed by Joseph Kahn, no less) as "a bit of a mad kind of unicorn," so keep an eye out for that too. 

In the meantime, watch our interview with Ryan back when Counting Stars hit Number 1 on the Official Singles Chart: