Songfacts®:

• At the age of 28, Avicii took his own life in his Oman hotel room on April 20, 2018. This song, co-produced by his friends Albin Nedler and Bonn (aka Kristoffer Fogelmark), is the first posthumous track by the Swedish DJ to be released.
• In the personal notes recovered after his passing, Avicii wrote that he wanted to work again with Aloe Blacc, who was the singer on the DJ's 2013 hit single "Wake Me Up," so Nedler and Bonn invited him to record this track.
• The song is a cry for help built on Aloe Blacc's soaring voice.
  
  Can you hear me? SOS
  Help me put my mind to rest
  I can feel your love pulling me up from the underground
  
  Said Blacc regarding Avicii's lyrics: "I feel like 'SOS' was a song that was probably ahead of its time for when he wrote it. He wrote these lyrics obviously about some of his battles and I think it's a really important topic to approach and to share, especially with his visibility and his access to ears and hearts. To give people the words to be able to say 'I need help.'"
• The song was recorded for the posthumous record Tim (Avicii's real name was Tim Bergling). The album was roughly 90% finished when the Swede passed away and Albin Nedler and Bonn set out to complete their friend's vision.
  
  Avicii had used Fruity Loops to produce his music, and utilizing that program's save features the pair were able to track and preserve Tim's exact keystrokes. "He had a completely different way of playing piano and keyboard," said Nedler. "As a result his fingers would sometimes strike an unusual key, which added to his unique sound. Tim's fingerprints are literally across the entirety of 'SOS.'"
• Net proceeds from the record are being donated to the Tim Bergling Foundation, which Avicii's family set up to focus on mental health and suicide prevention.