"A Different Way" is a song by French DJ and record producer

DJ Snake William Sami Étienne Grigahcine (born 13 June 1986), known by his stage name DJ Snake, is an Algerian French music producer and DJ, first achieving international recognition in 2013 by releasing an instrumentation-oriented single called " Turn D ...

, featuring vocals from American musician Lauv. It was written by Snake,

Lindy Robbins Lindy Robbins is an American songwriter from Los Angeles, whose songs include Demi Lovato's " Skyscraper", Jason Derulo's "Want to Want Me", David Guetta's " Dangerous" featuring Sam Martin, MKTO's "Classic", Hot Chelle Rae's " Tonight, Toni ...

, Ilsey Juber, Ed Sheeran, Johnny McDaid and

Steve Mac Steve McCutcheon (born 15 January 1972), known professionally as Steve Mac, is a British record producer, songwriter and musician. A multi-award-winning producer, he is one of the most prolific songwriters and record producers in modern British ...

, with production handled by Snake. It was released to digital retailers on 21 September 2017, a day earlier than its expected release date, through Geffen Records.

Background

Snake debuted the song during a Facebook Live video stream on 6 September 2017. He also performed other songs such as "

Turn Down for What "Turn Down for What" is a song by French DJ and record producer DJ Snake and American rapper Lil Jon released on December 18, 2013. The song and its viral music video popularized the use of the phrase. The song was particularly successful in Nort ...

", "Here Comes the Night" from his 2016 album ''

Encore An encore is an additional performance given by performers after the planned show has ended, usually in response to extended applause from the audience.Lalange Cochrane, in ''Oxford Companion to Music'', Alison Latham, ed., Oxford University Pres ...

'', and a remix of his Justin Bieber collaboration " Let Me Love You" in the 23-minute mix. It took place on top of

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (, , ; ) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile—the ''étoile'' ...

, one of the most famous monuments in Paris, Snake's hometown. He announced on social media the previous day that he will be live streaming from an undisclosed location in Paris, with the accompanying hashtag "#ADifferentWay". The stream was directed by Grammy-nominated American director Colin Tilley. Snake later announced the single's release date on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. On 21 September 2017, Snake premiered the song on

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

Beats 1 Apple Music 1, previously branded as Beats 1, is a 24/7 music radio station owned and operated by Apple Inc. It is accessible through iTunes or the Apple Music app on a computer, smartphone or tablet, smart speaker (such as the Apple HomePod), ...

Radio show.

Critical reception

"A Different Way" was well received from music critics. David Rishty of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' wrote that the song features "a bouncy melody and punchy backbeat", and that it "carries a similar style to that of 'Let Me Love You'". Jeffrey Yau of Your EDM deemed the song "a mid-tempo ballad that features a furious, futuristic drop which should be radio friendly enough to be a smash while still retaining the energy and atmosphere in a classic Snake main stage banger". Rajrishi Murthi of Bangin Beats felt "the infectious vocal-driven track boasts of all the ingredients to take over airwaves in the coming days". Mike Wass of Idolator opined that the song "doesn't reinvent the wheel", but regarded it as "a no-brainer for pop radio and manages to inject a little emotion into the increasingly soulless club banger".

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Different Way, A 2017 singles 2017 songs DJ Snake songs Lauv songs Songs written by Lindy Robbins Songs written by Ilsey Juber Songs written by Ed Sheeran Songs written by Johnny McDaid Songs written by Steve Mac Geffen Records singles Songs written by DJ Snake