Mood Ring (song)

"Mood Ring" was originally written as a collaboration between Spears and The Chainsmokers.

"Mood Ring" was written in February 2015 by Jon Asher and Melanie Fontana, two "life-long fans" of Spears. After composing the song on a piano under the name "Mood Swings", the duo wrote it to an instrumental track that ended up being used for "Waterbed", a song featured on The Chainsmokers' first EP, Bouquet (2015). While it was originally written as a potential collaboration between the singer and The Chainsmokers, the group turned it down, calling it "too girly". They, however, asked both Asher and Fontana to write them a "more masculine" version of the song, which eventually led to them writing "Setting Fires", a song that was later featured on the group's second EP, Collage (2016). Following the rejection, both Asher and Fontana tried reaching out to several producers with an acapella version of the song for three months, but to no avail. The two eventually got the track sent to producer DJ Mustard via one of Asher's mutual friends, whom eventually created a scratch demo in two days. This demo, along with the "Waterbed" demo were both recorded by Fontana, which she revealed the audio during her Instagram live on May 29, 2020.[3]

Following the song's rework with DJ Mustard, the two writers were informed that Spears "has put [their] demo on a hold" with Omar Grant and the Roc Nation team in early April 2015. Spears eventually recorded "Mood Ring" in June 2015, being one of the first songs recorded for the singer's upcoming project. Fontana, who was in Finland when she found out that the singer would be recording the song, wanted to fly to Los Angeles to be in the studio with her, but was unable to due to the fact she had already finished recording the song. According to Fontana, it only took Spears an hour to record her vocals, which to her meant that she "knew the song inside and out and really vibed with it". She later revealed that both her and Asher have composed at least ten other tracks for the album, to which "Mood Ring" was the only one to get cut. Asher further revealed that he wasn't working directly with Spears for the vocal production, but instead having an one-on-one session with DJ Mustard to work on.[4][5] DJ Mustard later confirmed in July 2015 during the Wireless Festival that he was indeed working with Spears, citing the work to be "harder than hard."[6] According to both A&R executive Karen Kwak and Spears herself, "Mood Ring" is one of her favorite songs on Glory, further describing it as being "so vibey and sexy".[7]

According to Asher, they wanted to write a song for the singer that "encapsulated [her] entire essence". During the writing process, both him and Fontana had "full-on Britney brain" and imagined her "performing it onstage or dancing to it in a music video". In addition, they frequently asked themselves: "What would 'I'm a Slave 4 U' Britney do in 2016?". Fontana, who provided the vocals on the demo version of "Mood Ring", also sang the song in a way that she envisioned Spears would.[7] Musically, the song is described as an "electro-tinged" and "slinky" R&B song, being one of Spears' "sultry slow jam(s)" and "most R&B-heavy tunes of [her] latest era." It runs for a duration of three minutes and forty-eight seconds. The song follows the traditional verse–chorus song structure over a "slow-burning" production by producer Mustard, whom had worked on several projects such as Anti by Rihanna and Late Nights by Jeremih. Its lyrics focuses on Spears "deciding between two versions of herself" to present to a possible suitor, demonstrating through the first lines "Look in the mirror, who do I see?/Who do I wanna be today?" The singer sings most of the song in her lower register, mostly presented through the chorus "My love is a mood ring, up and down emotions, all these mood swings," as she sings.[8]

The song was originally teased via DJ Mustard's Twitter on August 10, 2016.[9] While "Mood Ring" was not featured on the standard nor the deluxe edition of Glory, it was released as a bonus track for the Japanese edition on September 14, 2016.[10] Following the #JusticeForGlory campaign that was launched by Spears' fans on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, the singer unveiled a new cover art for Glory on May 8, 2020, nearly four years after its release.[11] Three weeks later, Spears announced that "Mood Ring" would be released worldwide on all streaming and download platforms the next day, subtitled "By Demand" to credit her fans for their support of the album. The song was then released along with its parental album reissue on May 29, 2020, listed as the thirteen track on the standard edition.[12][13]

• Digital download and streaming (Remixes)[14]

1. "Mood Ring (By Demand)" (Pride Remix) – 3:11
2. "Mood Ring (By Demand)" (Ape Drums Remix) – 3:38

Note

• "Pride remix" has been made by DJ duo Bimbo Jones.

Credits for "Mood Ring" are adapted from Glory liner notes and ASCAP listing.[15]

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics