"Close to Me" is a song by English singer Ellie Goulding, American record producer Diplo, and American singer Swae Lee, released on 24 October 2018.[1] It was premiered by Annie Mac on BBC Radio 1 as the "Hottest Record in the World".[2] It will be included on Goulding's fourth album, Brightest Blue (2020).
Background
At the time, there was a lot going on in the world that I wanted to forget. Savan gets very overwhelmed with what's happening particularly in America, and I think we all wanted to forget that and just write something a bit silly. It was so nice to just go back to just writing a song about a turbulent, probably doomed relationship – someone to forget the world with.
Goulding told Billboard that the song came about when she and co-writer Savan Kotecha were in a Los Angeles studio where they came up with the guitar melody and Goulding sang what would become the first line of the pre-chorus, "don't let me down", which they decided to keep in the song. Goulding, feeling that the song was "missing something", eventually sent it to Diplo who sent his version back to her within a short amount of time. Diplo suggested adding Swae Lee as a featured guest vocalist.[3]
Composition
The song is recorded in the key of E major with a tempo of 72 beats per minute in common time. The song follows a chord progression of E–C♯m7–G♯–A, and the vocals span from E3 to C♯5.[4]
Music video
The music video for "Close to Me" was filmed in Budapest, Hungary, and premiered on 14 November 2018. It was directed by Diane Martel.[5]
Promotion
Goulding wiped her social media accounts and began promoting the track on 22 October 2018, first sharing a cartoon image of hers, Diplo and Swae Lee's arms locked in a triangle, displaying their tattoos against a cheetah print background, captioning it "CLOSE TO ME".[1] She then later confirmed this would be the title, and along with posting an audio clip of the track,[6] announced the release date and time.[7]
Other Versions
In April 2019, Ellie Goulding released another version of the song featuring Korean female group Red Velvet to replace Swae Lee's verse in the song.
Live performances
Goulding performed an acoustic version of the song during On Air with Ryan Seacrest on 16 November 2018.[8] She later performed the song during BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge Month on 28 November.[9] Her first televised performance of the song was on the final of The X Factor on 2 December.[10]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
On 5 April 2019, a remix was released which removed Swae Lee's verse and Korean girl group Red Velvet was featured, singing a verse in Korean and sang their own version of the chorus in Korean. Their chorus was written by Red Velvet's Wendy & Yeri.[87] It has won
a "Choice Electronic / Dance Song" award at the 2019 Teen Choice Awards.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 201912 into search. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201902 into search. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201907 into search. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201902 into search. Retrieved 28 January 2019.