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Hit the Lights (Selena Gomez & the Scene song)

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"Hit the Lights"
Song

"Hit the Lights" is a song by American recording group Selena Gomez & the Scene, from their third studio album When the Sun Goes Down (2011). The song was written by Leah Haywood, Daniel James and Tony Nilsson, while production of the song was handled by Haywood and Daniel Pringle under their production name Dreamlab. Musically, "Hit the Lights" is an up-tempo dance song. Lyrically, the song speaks about living in the moment and taking risks.

"Hit the Lights" was met with a positive reception from music critics, who praised it's club feel. Although not released as a single, the song has currently attained the top thirty chart position in Belgium and debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 at number ninety-three. The music video for the song was released on November 16, 2011. The video features Gomez and some friends playing around in the fields and later partying at night and running around in the city.

Background

"Hit the Lights" was written by Leah Haywood, Daniel James, and Tony Nilsson, while the production was helmed by Haywood and Daniel Pringle under their production moniker ‘Dreamlab’. The song was recorded at Dreamlab Studios in Los Angeles, California while the mixing was done at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In an interview with Billboard magazine, Selena Gomez explained every track on the song’s parent album. In describing “Hit the Lights” she commented that the song’s lyrics spoke about things relatable to everyone, commenting "It's kind of one of those songs about living in the moment while keeping it a big huge summer dance track."[3] Gomez gave hints to releasing a new single with a teaser picture from the set of a music video. The photograph was released on her twitter on September 30, 2011 and featured the message "With some of my girl[s] from tour. Shootin the video. I can't wait for y'all to see it."[4] The photograph features Gomez with neon-streaked hair extensions surrounded by three girls in a farmland like background. Gomez released several teases for the music video throughout October and early November.

Composition

“Hit the Lights” is an up-tempo dance song that runs for three minutes and fourteen seconds. The lyrics of “Hit the Lights”, which expresses a more adult approach to life situations[5], displays more maturity than the band’s previous recordings. It is also musically different than the music of When the Sun Goes Down, with critics noting it as a song playable in dance clubs. [6][2]

Critical reception

Bill Lamb of About.com named "Hit the Lights" as one of the top tracks on the When the Sun Goes Down album, along with "Love You Like a Love Song", "That's More Like It" and "Middle of Nowhere".[5] Amy Sciarretto of PopCrush, in her review of When the Sun Goes Down, was mixed about the song, writing that "It is a clubby, raise-your-glass dance song that isn't one of the album's strongest. There are better club rockers — we won't go as far as to call 'em "bangers" — on the album."[2] Tim Sendra of Allmusic praised her vocals on the song, commenting that she "comes on like a convincing disco diva on "Hit the Lights"."[7] Blair Kelly of musicOMH followed in the praise of the song as a "massive club hit" but was mixed in noting that "in the surroundings of the rest of the album it doesn't make sense."[6]

Music video

The music video premiered on VEVO on November 16, 2011. Five short teasers of the video were released from November 7, 2011 to November 9, 2011, with a Behind the Scenes video released on November 11, 2011. (see below)

The official music video is 3 minutes and 24 seconds long and begins with Gomez signing in front of a lime green background. 20 seconds into the video, Gomez, as well as her band members and a few other people are shown in a wheat field, attempting to keep several oversized balloons from touching the ground. Next, the group are wandering through a corn field and begin dancing and jumping, with Gomez singing the song's chorus. The group briefly appears in a pumpkin patch outside of the cornfield, throwing and smashing some pumpkins. Later, as the sun is beginning to set, the group sits on the back of a pickup truck, eating watermelon. The truck begins to issue a large amount of smoke.

As the second playing of the chorus begins, it is shown to be night, and the group are on a street in a neighborhood, where they are dancing while holding flashlights. The group proceeds to a house party. Shortly afterwards, the group are in a dark forest, where there are several disco balls hanging from trees. Gomez then appears surrounded by several pink balloons, wearing pink and yellow sunglasses, as well as in an empty and dark football field. A few people are shown jumping into a pool before returning to the dark street where they begin dancing with sparklers and fireworks go off around them. Finally, the group begins dancing and running through a brightly-lit city, similar to Times Square as the song ends.

Reception

Jeff Benjamin of Billboard magazine commented that "Gomez remains as innocently cute as ever with sunglasses too big for her face in the opening scene. In fact, the most controversial moment of the video comes when Selena and her posse smash a pumpkin to bits. Not a girl, definitely... not yet a woman (she's still partying in a football stadium). Is Selena's own "Slave 4 U" moment coming soon? From this video, it looks like the 19 year-old still has a little time before she shedding her squeaky clean image -- if she plans to at all."[8] Cristin Maher of PopCrush noted that the video "is slightly reminiscent of Katy Perry‘s ‘Teenage Dream’ clip in the sense that it is all about young people really living in the moment." She also commented that the video "highlights the overall quality of the song in addition to showing the singer’s growth in terms of choosing compelling and captivating visuals for her songs."[9] A writer from The Huffington Post took a liking to the song’s music video, writing that it “captures the feeling of being young and carefree, and is all about having a good time with your friends. (And having fun in a pile of pink balloons.)” . [9]

Live performances

The band has performed "Hit the Lights" on the We Own the Night Tour, and it is the second song performed after the Dave Aude remix version of "A Year Without Rain" and before "Summer's Not Hot". During the performance, Gomez wears a gold dress and her movements are improvised.[10] On July 24, 2011, the band performed the song “Hit the Lights” at the O.C. Fair. [11] Amy Sciarretto praised Gomez's performance at the concert, writing "The multi-talented multi-tasker gave us further evidence of her endless talents. While we're used to hearing her chat in interviews or seeing her videos, this live taste of the singer proves what a talent she is, singing and dancing without losing her breath. We also love her fabulously bedazzled pink microphone."[11] During her performance, American pop singer Justin Bieber, who Gomez is currently in a relationship with, came up on stage, to Gomez and the audience's surprise. He performed a mash-up of his own song "Favorite Girl" and Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River" from his debut album Justified before exiting the stage and giving praise to Gomez.[12] On the day of the MTV Europe Music Awards, Gomez performed "Hit the Lights" in a bedazzled purple jumpsuit with her band.[13] Selena also performed this song on December 31, 2011 in New York for NYE in NYC 2011 along with "Love You Like a Love Song".

Credits and personnel

Recording and mixing
Personnel
  • Vocals – Selena Gomez
  • Production – Dreamlab
  • Songwriting – Leah Haywood, Daniel James, Tony Nilsson
  • Serban Ghenea – mixing
  • Engineering – John Hanes, Phil Seaford

Credits adapted from the liner notes of When the Sun Goes Down, Hollywood Records.[14]

Charts

"Hit the Lights" first charted in Belgium at number fifty-four on the Ultratip Flanders chart. The next week, the song climbed to number twenty-nine. The song also debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 at number ninety-three on the week ending December 3, 2011.

Chart (2011) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[15] 11
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[16] 55
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[17] 33
US Billboard Hot 100 103

References

  1. ^ http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/when-the-sun-goes-down/id444901559?ign-mpt=uo%3D4
  2. ^ a b c Sciarretto, Amy. "Selena Gomez, 'When the Sun Goes Down' – Album Review". PopCursh. PopCrush. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  3. ^ Staff, Billboard. ""Selena Gomez Talks 'When the Sun Goes Down': Video Track-By-Track"". Billboard Magazine. Billboard. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  4. ^ Sciarretto, Amy. "Selena Gomez Shares a Photo From 'Hit the Lights' Video Shoot". PopCrush. PopCrush. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  5. ^ a b Staff, Billboard. "Selena Gomez and the Scene – When the Sun Goes Down". About.com. About.com. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  6. ^ a b Kelly, Blair. "Selena Gomez & The Scene - When The Sun Goes Down". musicOMH. Retrieved 2011-10-03. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  7. ^ Sendra, Tim. "When the Sun Goes Down – Selena Gomez & the Scene". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  8. ^ Benjamin, Jeff. "Selena Gomez As Hipster: Watch Her 'Hit The Lights' Video". Billboard Magazine. Billboard. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  9. ^ a b Maher, Cristin. "Selena Gomez Dances the Night Away in New 'Hit the Lights' Video". PopCrush. PopCrush. Retrieved 3 December 2011. Cite error: The named reference "popcrushtwo" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  10. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJjezCRL4X4
  11. ^ a b Sciarretto, Amy. "Selena Gomez Performs 'Hit the Lights' at O.C. Concert". PopCrush. PopCrush. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  12. ^ Hensel, Amanda. "Justin Bieber Makes Surprise Appearance at Selena Gomez Concert". PopCrush. PopCrush. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  13. ^ Sager, Jessica. work=PopCrush "2011 MTV Europe Music Awards Performance Pictures". PopCrush. Retrieved 3 December 2011. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Missing pipe in: |url= (help)
  14. ^ When the Sun Goes Down (album). United States: Hollywood. 2011. {{cite AV media notes}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |artist= ignored (|others= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |artistlink= ignored (help)
  15. ^ "Selena Gomez & The Scene – Hit the Lights" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
  16. ^ "Selena Gomez & The Scene - Hit The Lights". aCharts.us. aCharts.us. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  17. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201149 into search.
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