Exhale (Sabrina Carpenter song)

Carpenter stated that "Exhale" is the most difficult song for her to sing as she gets very emotional.[3] Carpenter also described the song as being her most personal and vulnerable song yet.[4][5] Carpenter began performing the song as an encore of the Singular Tour.[2] After the reception from her fans, Carpenter considered putting the song on Singular: Act II, before finally deciding to include it on the track list.

In April 2019, Carpenter stated that "Exhale" would be released very soon, presumably being released as a single.[3] Carpenter further fuelled the rumours at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards, saying that she would be releasing her "most personal song yet" soon.[4] On May 2, 2019, Carpenter formally announced the single via her social media.[6] The song was released that night.[5]

The song was written in 2019, just before Carpenter embarked on the Singular Tour, by Carpenter, Ross Golan and the song's producer, Johan Carlsson.[7] The vocals were produced by Carlsson and Noah Passovoy.[7] Carlsson played electric guitar, programmed, and served background vocals with Carpenter and Golan to the track.[7] The strings were recorded and edited by Mattias Bylund at Studio Borgen in Partille and arranged by Nils-Petter Ankarblom.[7] The orchestra consists of David Bukovinszky on cello, Mattias Johansson on violin and Bylund and Ankarblom on string synthesizers.[7] The song was mixed by Serban Ghenea at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach and John Hanes served as an engineer for mix.[7] The song was mastered at Sterling Sound in New York City by Chris Gehringer with Will Quinnell serving as an assistant.[7]

"Exhale" is a "somber" midtempo R&B ballad that runs for two minutes and forty four seconds.[8][1][9][10][11] Lyrically, the song is about pressure and anxiety in life and the need to take a breather or break from them.[12][1][9][13]

A visualizer video accompanied the song's release.[14] It features a digitally edited version of the single artwork moving around. The song's official music video was premiered on Carpenter's YouTube and VEVO channels on May 17, 2019.[15] It was directed by Mowgly Lee and features Carpenter singing in a valley.[16] At the end of the video, Carpenter's studio vocals turn into a live a cappella of her singing the song. John Blistein of Rolling Stone called the video "simple but affecting".[17]

"Exhale" was performed as the encore on the Singular Tour.[2]

Recording and management

• Strings Recorded and Edited at Studio Borgen (Partille, Sweden)
• Mixed at MixStar Studios (Virginia Beach, Virginia)
• Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City)
• MXM (ASCAP) all rights administered by Kobalt Songs Music Publishing (ASCAP), Back In Djibouti (BMI) and Warner Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI) all rights obo Itself and Back In Djibouti administered by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., Seven Summits Music (BMI) obo Itself and Pink Mic Music (BMI)

Personnel

Credits adapted from Singular: Act II liner notes.[7]