Hatrium

"Hatrium" is a single by alternative-rock duo Dresden & Bareilles. The song was the third single lifted from the band's debut album "Havoc & The Haven". The single was released on January 4th, 2010. It is the band's biggest hit from their debut album, entering the charts at #2. The single spent 7 weeks on chart, and is certified gold.

Background
"Hatrium" was written by Gabriel Dresden for his unreleased solo album; plans for the album were abandoned when Gabriel met Jean-Luc, and his solo material was assimilated into the material the duo worked on together for "Havoc & The Haven". Gabriel wrote the song about various forms of hatred, including racism, sexism and homophobia. He wove it all together with references to Rome and the emperor Julius Caesar. Gabriel included violin in the song, in a musical reference to Emperor Nero, also tying into the the Roman reference with the fabled burning of Rome as Nero played his fiddle. This song had the hardest rock sound of the duo's singles, and sparked controversy for its lyrics. As with the previous single a radio mix was made to make the single more suitable for airplay. While alternative versions stuck with the album version, the radio mix toned down the aggressiveness of the song, and a chorus was removed to shorten the song's length for time. An edit of the album version was provided for US alternative stations. The b-side, "Replaced", was written about the passing of legend Michael Jackson.

Reception
In the US, "Hatrium" was released as the second rock single, as they skipped over "Someone To Believe In". The song picked up spins quickly on the format. The song was a little too hard for Australia, where it failed to receive the same warm reception as its predecessors; only reaching the top 30 on the singles chart. In the UK, the single was lauded as their strongest single to date, taking off rapidly on radio and becoming the best charting single on both the airplay and singles charts from their debut album era, reaching their highest peak within the top 5 on both counts. The UK chart and airplay peaks of "Hatrium" would later be beaten, with the band scoring two UK #1 hits and a #2 radio hit. Overall in the US, the song peaked in the top 80 on the Hot 100.

Promo CD

 * 1) Hatrium (Radio Mix)
 * 2) Hatrium (Album Version)
 * 3) Hatrium (Call-Out Hook)

CD1

 * 1) Hatrium
 * 2) Replaced

CD2

 * 1) Hatrium
 * 2) Ave Maria
 * 3) Hatrium (The Crystal Method Elektrotek Vocal Mix)
 * 4) Hatrium (Cross To Bear Mix)
 * 5) Hatrium (The Crystal Method Tektronik Dub)

Music Video
The video opens to show an empty bathhouse set (this is the set that sections of the Pantheon were transformed into for the shoot) while the song starts. We see shots of Gabriel and Jean-Luc rolling up at different locations elsewhere intercut as they enter the bathhouse through separate doors - Gabriel is driving in a car as he pulls up outside an Italian villa while Jean-Luc ends up in what appears to be an alleyway on a motorbike. During the first verse we see Gabriel sitting by himself in a bedroom of the villa staring into space. Images start to form in front of him and he watches them - following the lyrics of the song, we see a hate-crime in progress, with a while man holding a gun at an African-American man with his daughter. Gabriel watches expressionless as the man huddles the child in a car for safety, but that does not save her as the white man sets the vehicle on fire, and the father can only watch in horror through the flames as the man leaves the scene of the crime laughing.

During the chorus and the second verse, we see Jean-Luc alone in the bathhouse. Effects shots see multiple versions of him fading in and out of frame as they wander around the room singing his lyrics. Over in Gabriel's bedroom, we see him reclining on the bed as he sees visions of a woman in tears, hiding bruises under heavy layers of make-up as she faces away from an unseen male aggressor. He gets up and follows the vision of the woman down to his private bar where he has a drink as he watches the woman sitting alone on the floor as she cries alone. For the third verse we see something on an inverse scenario. It is now Gabriel alone in the bathhouse with the special effect double-up shots with various Gabriels fading in and out of frame - one of them being him sitting at a furnished table. As for storyline, we see what appears to be the commitment ceremony of two men. Jean-Luc can be seen in attendence somewhere in the background. Things turn nasty after the ceremony, as an off-screen car accident occurs, and we see shots of a funeral where one of the married couple is being buried.

Gabriel is back in his bedroom watching the funeral playing out before his eyes. Back at his bike, Jean-Luc appears to be watching the same thing. An argument appears to be going on, while the deceased's husband just watches quietly. We see Gabriel and Jean-Luc appearing together in the bathhouse again as they sing the bridge. As the song begins to wind to a close, we see Gabriel and Jean-Luc pacing around the bathhouse as they sing the final chorus. We see Jean-Luc get back on his bike and ride away, while back in his villa, Gabriel watches the afterimages of his visions fading away, so he gets changed into a suit and goes back down to his car, where he drives away with a passenger - the woman that he saw a vision of before.

Chart Performance
Due to the extremely strong reaction to "Hatrium" many believed that it could become the band's first #1, a major leap from their previous single "Someone To Believe In", which only charted at #5. The single fell just short of the top spot by a mere few thousand sales, entering at #2 on the singles chart with sales of 76,881. In its second week the single remained in the top 5, selling a further 71,213 copies. Beyond this, the single did not have the staying power of "Someone To Believe In", only spending a further 2 weeks in the top 20; this was still enough for the single to reach gold certification, but the single fell off the chart before reaching platinum certification. It lasted on chart for a total of 7 weeks. On airplay, it was the band's largest airplay hit to date, peaking at #4 for two weeks and achieving exceptionally strong airplay, lasting on the airplay chart for 13 weeks before going recurrent. In Australia, the song was a commercial failure, proving too controversial for the Australian public; the song received minor airplay and sold enough for a top 30 peak. In the US, it got its main airplay from the alternative and rock formats. These formats generally don't generate strong sales in the US, but the band's name helped the song sell enough for them to achieve a top 80 hit on the Hot 100 - their lowest peaking US hit behind "The Reject".

Chart Run
TOTAL: 236,439
 * Week 1: #2 - 76,881
 * Week 2: #4 - 71,213
 * Week 3: #9 - 38,522
 * Week 4: #15 - 27,893
 * Week 5: #22 - 13,211
 * Week 6: #37 - 5,198
 * Week 7: #38 - 3,521