Prior to beginning their professional music careers, Porter Robinson and Madeon met for the first time in a music productionInternet forum when they were 14 and 12 years old, respectively. Recalling their past together, Robinson stated that at the time they met, "Neither of us had even a whimper of a music career obviously, and we were kind of rivals. We were both the young kids who were making music on that forum, and so we competed with each other." As their musical careers developed, the two continued to share music with each other. While developing a friendship, they each became successful independent of the other. "Shelter" represents Robinson and Madeon's only collaboration. Madeon stated in a press release, “Both Porter and I started working with people in-person when we started making our respective albums and appreciated how much more collaborative you can get... Our intent was to make music that would reflect our friendship.” Robinson and Madeon have stated that they do not plan to continue collaborating after "Shelter". Explaining the decision, Madeon stated, "If we kept 'Shelter' going for too long, then the ways that our tastes don't fully overlap would become frustrating."
Release
The song was released and uploaded to Madeon's YouTube channel on August 11, 2016. The song was released in the United States on Columbia Records and popcultur as a digital download, and on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, Google Play, and SoundCloud. "Shelter" was released together with an announcement that Robinson and Madeon would be touring cities in the US and Canada, dubbed as the "Shelter Live Tour". Robinson confirmed on Twitter that the tour would feature both himself and Madeon playing simultaneously in a live show, beginning in late 2016.
Composition
The track is three minutes and 39 seconds long. The lead melody in the track is a processed, chopped-up vocal of a song previously recorded by Robinson during the production of Worlds, featuring Amy Millan. The lead vocal is provided by Madeon. The track takes elements from both artist's debut albums; Porter Robinson's Worlds, and Madeon's Adventure. The chopped up vocals are a signature sound of both artists, as seen in Robinson's single "Flicker", and Madeon's song "You're On" from Adventure. Madeon has stated that the lyrics are about his parents.
Music video
On October 14, 2016, Robinson announced on his Twitter account that he had spent over a year collaborating with Japanese animation studioA-1 Pictures on an animated music video for "Shelter". The music video was released on October 18, 2016, on Porter Robinson's YouTube channel, in partnership with Crunchyroll. Robinson originally approached A-1 Pictures to make Shelter because it was the studio that created Anohana!, a show that matches his sensibilities as an artist. Based on an original story written by Robinson, the music video is a short film format. The film follows 17-year-old Rin who lives alone inside a futuristic simulation. She maintains control of the simulation and the virtual world around her through a tablet on which she can draw scenes that the world around her will then create in a three-dimensional environment. She continues on like this for many years, living a peaceful but lonely life. All of a sudden, she experiences scenes before her that she hasn't created. As an invisible observer, Rin witnesses her life as a 10-year-old child living in Tokyo. Through a series of newsreels and images, it is learned that at this time a moon-sized planetary object is on a collision course with Earth. Rin's father Shigeru dedicates a large portion of his time to the happiness of his daughter, but in the meantime builds a single-passenger spacecraft with life support for Rin to escape. He also successfully wipes any memory of him or Earth from her mind, instead programming these and a letter from him to come to her later in life in hope that she would better understand the circumstance once she has matured. Just before the planet makes contact, he connects her to the simulation and launches the ship carrying her into space, where she has been for the pastseven years. The music video was broadcast on Toonami in December 2016, making it their first in Japanese with English subtitles as opposed to with an English dub.
Usage in media
This song was featured as soundtrack in the EA Sports game, FIFA 17.
Reception
Music Times stated in an article that "'Shelter' is what fans of both artists have been hoping for. It manages to bring together the sounds of both artists – Porter Robinson and his synth wizardry found on Worlds and then similar shimmering synths that Madeon has used over the years."
