"Close" is a song recorded by American singer

Nick Jonas Nicholas Jerry Jonas (born September 16, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Jonas began acting on Broadway at the age of seven, and released his debut single in 2002; this caught the attention of Columbia Records, where Jonas ...

from his third studio album, ''

Last Year Was Complicated ''Last Year Was Complicated'' is the third studio album by American singer Nick Jonas. It was released on June 10, 2016, by Island and Safehouse Records. The album features collaborations with Tove Lo, Ty Dolla $ign, and Big Sean. The album's lea ...

''. The track features guest vocals from Swedish singer

Tove Lo Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson (born 29 October 1987), known professionally as Tove Lo (), is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She has been called "Sweden's darkest pop export" by ''Rolling Stone.'' She is known for her raw, grunge-influenced take o ...

. It was released on March 25, 2016, by Island, Safehouse and Republic Records as the album's lead single. The song was written by

Julia Michaels Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g ...

Justin Tranter Justin Drew Tranter (born June 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, singer, and activist. Frequently co-writing with Julia Michaels, Tranter has written songs for artists such as Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Linkin Park, Kelly Clarkson, Selena ...

, and its producers Mattias "Mattman" Larsson and Robin Fredriksson.

Background

During a Twitter session, Jonas explained that the track is "about how I literally can't open up and be vulnerable with someone". The melody of the song was released over the days before the release of the song, through several tweets.

Composition

The song is written in the key of

A major A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The key of A major is the only k ...

with a tempo of 120 beats per minute.

Critical reception

James Grebey of ''Spin'' magazine called "Close" a "sultry" track and deeply personal. Brittany Spanos of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' called the song a sexy, steel-drum assisted single. Stephen Erlewine of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

wrote a positive review saying "'Close,' a duet with Tove Lo, is perhaps the best showcase for this aspect of Nick Jonas, but the entirety of Last Year Was Complicated walks a fine line between immaculately produced pop confection and personal confession."

Live performance

Jonas performed the song live with Tove Lo on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' on April 16, 2016. On April 24, 2016, he performed the song during his 75-minute set at the New Orleans Jazz Fest. He performed the song with Thomas Rhett and Daniella Bradbery for an episode of ''

CMT Crossroads ''CMT Crossroads'' is an American television program broadcast on CMT that pairs country music artists with musicians from other music genres such as alternative rock, pop, R&B, Rock, soul and more, frequently trading off performing one anot ...

''. On April 28, Jonas and Tove Lo performed the song on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

''. Jonas performed the song solo on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was prod ...

'' on May 9, 2016. He and Tove Lo performed "Close" live on May 22, 2016, at the

2016 Billboard Music Awards The 2016 ''Billboard'' Music Awards ceremony was held on May 22, 2016, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the first nationally televised event to originate from that venue. It aired live on ABC with hosts Ludacris and Ciara. The nomin ...

. On June 10, he performed the song live on Today. Jonas performed the song as a part of his setlist for the

Future Now Tour The Future Now Tour was a co-headlining concert tour by American singers Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas. It was Lovato's fifth headlining tour, in support of her fifth studio album '' Confident'' (2015), and Jonas' third concert tour, in support of h ...

with

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for pl ...

singing Lo's lyrics. Jonas also performed the song live on German TV show ''

Germany's Next Topmodel ''Germany's Next Topmodel'' (often abbreviated as ''GNTM'') is a German reality television series, based on a concept introduced by Tyra Banks with ''America's Next Top Model''. The competition is hosted by Heidi Klum who also serves as the le ...

''.

Music video

The music video was released the same day as the single and was directed by

Tim Erem Timothy Frey Trond Erem, better known as Tim Erem, (born October 29, 1990) is a Swedish director from Lidingö, Stockholm. He is best known for directing and writing music videos for artists such as Rihanna, Drake, Tove Lo, Elliphant, Katy Perry, ...

. The video depicts both singers unable to physically touch each other as they are continuously pulled away from the other. As their clothes are ripped away, the pair is able to finally get close. The more vulnerable the pair get, the closer they are able to get.

Track listing

*Digital download remixes #"Close" – 3:28 #"Close" – 3:44

Credits and personnel

– lead vocals *

– songwriting, featured vocals *

Robin Fredriksson Mattman & Robin is a Swedish songwriting and production duo composed of Mattias Per Larsson and Robin Lennart Fredriksson. They are published by Wolf Cousins, a publishing company administered by Warner Chappell Music. In 2016, they won a Grammy A ...

– writing, production *

Mattias Larsson Mattman & Robin is a Swedish songwriting and production duo composed of Mattias Per Larsson and Robin Lennart Fredriksson. They are published by Wolf Cousins, a publishing company administered by Warner Chappell Music. In 2016, they won a Grammy A ...

– writing, production *

– writing *

– writing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2016 singles 2016 songs Nick Jonas songs Tove Lo songs Safehouse Records singles Song recordings produced by Mattman & Robin Songs written by Justin Tranter Songs written by Tove Lo Songs written by Julia Michaels Songs written by Robin Fredriksson Songs written by Mattias Larsson Torch songs Male–female vocal duets