New Normal

Khalid wrote this dreamy song toward the beginning of the COVID pandemic as a personal therapy to help him cope with his anxiety.

It's a new normal, hard for us to live in And to understand it The phrase "new normal" was first used in 1919 by the American inventor and writer Henry A. Wise Wood. Following the end of World War I the previous year, hundreds of thousands of conscripted soldiers returned home after a harrowing time serving their country. There had also been huge food shortages and an influenza epidemic that took more lives than the war. Wood coined the phrase to refer to the period beyond an initial transition to a changed world following the Great War. He wrote: "To consider the problems before us we must divide our epoch into three periods, that of war, that of transition, that of the new normal, which undoubtedly will supersede the old." The phrase "new normal" has since evolved to refer to a new way of living following a crisis such as the September 11 attacks, or COVID pandemic. During the coronavirus era, work and social life both changed radically as people were required to stay more at home, keep their distance from others, and wear masks. Here, Khalid is telling himself change is happening and he can't do anything about it; so just go with the flow and everything will turn out fine in the end.

On July 11, 2021 Sir Richard Branson and others took part in a flight aboard the Unity 22 Virgin Galactic rocket. It took the passengers and the five-person crew to the edge of space and back to earth, marking the beginning of Branson's mission to make space flight more accessible. During the livestream, Khalid took to the stage at the New Mexico launch site to perform a three-song set, during which he premiered this track.