"Close to Me" is a song by English singer

Ellie Goulding Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and Artists and ...

with American musicians

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...

and

Swae Lee Khalif Malik Ibn Shaman Brown (born June 7, 1993), known professionally as Swae Lee, is an American singer and rapper. Known for his wide vocal range and genre-bending, Swae Lee is one half of the hip hop duo Rae Sremmurd with his brother Slim J ...

, released on 24 October 2018 from the former's fourth studio album, ''

Brightest Blue ''Brightest Blue'' is the fourth studio album by English singer and songwriter Ellie Goulding. It was released on 17 July 2020 through Polydor Records. Originally scheduled for 5 June 2020, the album's release was delayed due to the COVID-19 pand ...

'' (2020). It was premiered by

Annie Mac Annie Mac (born 18 July 1978), is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, including hosting her AMP (Annie Mac Presents) ...

on BBC Radio 1 as the "Hottest Record in the World".

Background

Goulding told ''

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 ...

'' 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.

Composition

The song is recorded in the key of

E major E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, ...

with a tempo of 72 beats per minute in common time. The song follows a chord progression of E–Cm7–G–A, and the vocals span from E₃ to C₅.

Music video

The music video for "Close to Me", directed by Diane Martel, was filmed in Budapest, Hungary, and premiered on 14 November 2018.

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". She then later confirmed this would be the title, and along with posting an audio clip of the track, announced the release date and time.

Other versions

In April 2019, Goulding released another version of the song featuring Korean girl 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. She later performed the song during BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge Month on 28 November. Her first televised performance of the song was on the final of '' The X Factor'' on 2 December.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Red Velvet remix

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. It has won a "Choice Electronic / Dance Song" award at the

2019 Teen Choice Awards The 2019 Teen Choice Awards ceremony was held on August 11, 2019, and used a temporary outdoor on-beach stage in Hermosa Beach, California near the beach pier. This was the first time the ceremony was held outdoors. The awards celebrated the year' ...

Track listing

Release history

References

{{authority control 2018 singles 2018 songs Ellie Goulding songs Diplo songs Swae Lee songs Macaronic songs Songs written by Ellie Goulding Songs written by Diplo Songs written by Swae Lee Songs written by Savan Kotecha Song recordings produced by Diplo Song recordings produced by Ilya Salmanzadeh Songs written by Ilya Salmanzadeh Songs written by Peter Svensson Music videos directed by Diane Martel Interscope Records singles Polydor Records singles