Adam Yaron in his Los Angeles home studio.
There is nothing ordinary about the success of Alex Warren’s breakthrough hit — or its signature sound, created by producer Adam Yaron.
At the time of writing, Alex Warren’s ‘Ordinary’ is enjoying an incredible 12th week at number one in the UK. It’s also topped charts in the US and at least 18 other countries. “It’s truly surreal,” says Adam Yaron, the song’s producer and co‑writer. “I’ve been so grateful for the overwhelming response — it hasn’t fully sunk in. The day we started writing the song, Alex, our two co‑writers, and I immediately felt there was something special about it. Alex believed in the song from day one, and worked hard to get it heard. The song has turned into everything we could have hoped for, but nothing that we actually expected.”
Out Of The Ordinary
‘Ordinary’ appears on Alex Warren’s debut EP, You’ll Be Alright, Kid (Chapter 1).
‘Ordinary’ was written by Alex Warren, Cal Shapiro, Mags Duval and Adam Yaron. Yaron co‑wrote, and was the executive producer on, the whole of Warren’s debut extended play You’ll Be Alright, Kid (Chapter 1), released last September, and has the same roles on Warren’s first album You’ll Be Alright, Kid, released on July 18th.
“Alex has a rare ability to connect with people, and platforms like TikTok helped amplify that,” says Yaron, “but at the heart of it, it’s the music and his artistry that carried the song’s success. It’s interesting. The first verse doesn’t match the second verse at all. It has a completely different melody structure. It’s a very dynamic track. Normally a hit needs to be punchy from the start, but ‘Ordinary’ grows very slowly and takes you on a journey. Perhaps it’s the quirks, dynamics and otherness that listeners keep coming back for.
“We wrote ‘Ordinary’ after several singles from the album had been released in 2024. The first one, ‘Before You Leave Me’, started propelling Alex forwards, especially in Europe. ‘Save You A Seat’ connected on a much deeper level because of its lyrical rawness and sonic authenticity. That song was the first one we collaborated on with Cal Shapiro, a close friend and collaborator of mine. It’s a powerful song. Alex came into the studio and said, ‘My wedding’s coming up, and I’m gonna save a seat for both of my parents who passed away, so they can be there in spirit.’
“Shortly after that, Mags Duval, the other writer on ‘Ordinary’, entered the picture. The four of us, Alex, Mags, Cal and I, co‑wrote ‘Carry You Home’ on the first day that we all worked together, and then the next single, ‘Burning Down’, which Joe Jonas later featured on and marked Alex’s first to impact Top 40 radio. These songs made it clear that the four of us work really well together, and led us to doing a writing camp for two weeks in December 2024 at Perfect Sound Studios in Los Angeles, where a lot of the upcoming album, including ‘Ordinary’, was born.
Co‑writers Cal Shapiro (far left) and Mags Duval (centre left) celebrate ‘Ordinary’ topping the UK charts with Alex Warren (centre right) and Adam Yaron.
“It was very much an upward curve with Alex. With each release, we gained more and more momentum. The support from his incredible manager Brian Sokolik, and Mikey Parker, his A&R, have been key to propelling the music forward. But most important is Alex’s talent for delving into the creative process and presenting the music to his audience so authentically. After we wrote ‘Ordinary’, he was convinced that it needed to be the next single. He wanted the world to hear it. It came out in early February of 2025, which was very quickly after we completed it.”
On The Bounce
According to Yaron, the quartet of songwriters “bounces around” various places to work, including Yaron’s home studio. The Perfect Sound Studios sessions in December 2024 proved particularly productive. “We sometimes go to studios when we want a more elaborate setup, with extra instruments and so on, and we booked the two weeks at Perfect Sound because we could be in this isolated place together, and work freely without needing to go home every evening. It was just the four of us, and a lot of our initial writing process involves me playing guitar or piano, and all of us throwing around melody and lyric ideas. It’s rare that I am at the laptop at the infancy of a song.
“About halfway through our stay, on the 9th of December, we had finished our song for the day, had dinner and were about to watch a movie together in the living room. Cal had brought a rubber bridge guitar, and I picked it up and started noodling, playing the opening riff of ‘Ordinary’. Mags said, ‘Oh, I like that, keep playing.’ We were all in the living room, and it was completely informal. Mags started to hum some melodies, as did Alex and Cal. We have endless voice memos of us starting to piece together what became the chorus.
“So we were all bouncing off each other and at a certain point we had a general sketch of the chorus, still not knowing what the verse was going to be. Then we said, ‘OK, that’s good for now,’ and we watched the movie and let the idea marinate. I don’t know why we did that, because usually when we have a spark, our instinct is to run with it and get it finished . But we were comfortable knowing we could really dive in with fresh minds and ears the next day. When we woke up, we started crafting the verses, and perfecting the chorus melodies and lyrics that we had been playing with the night before. It was also at that point that I tracked the guitar in Logic, and added other things, and we started shaping the song.”
Shifty Character
The instrument that plays the arpeggio riff that opens ‘Ordinary’ has been the source of some online debate. Adam Yaron reveals all: “It took us a few days to get all parts of the song together. We were still very much writing when I recorded the guitar, with all three of them still working on the chorus lyrics in the control room. The moment that we unlocked the overall vibe of the song was when we had the guitar, and I added the kick, and those roomy claps and percussion‑like sounds, which I later layered in my studio. Once we had those three elements we understood the feeling we were chasing in the rest of the song.
“This Logic session was more chaotic than usual — in a good way. We were just following instincts, throwing paint at the wall. It was very spontaneous. One example of us just trying things was that I recorded the guitar in G major, and at...
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