"Close to You" is a song by Italian

Eurodance Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...

project

Whigfield Whigfield is an Italian dance act fronted by Danish singer, songwriter and record producer Sannie Charlotte Carlson (born 11 April 1970), known by her various stage names including Whigfield, Naan, or simply Sannie. She is best known for her 1993 ...

, performed by Danish-born Sannie Charlotte Carlson and released in August 1995 as the fourth single from her first album, ''

'' (1995). It was her first

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

and a top-20 hit in Denmark, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom. On the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

, it reached number 67.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

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 about the song, "Wisely,

broadens its stylistic palette slightly by issuing a jam fueled by a chugging faux-

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

beat. The wall of glistening keyboards raises the sugar quotient of the song's cutie-pie vocals and "ooh-baby-baby" lyrics to potentially diabetic heights. Is it good for ya? Nah! But what guilty pleasure ever is?"

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a music writer and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worked on air ...

for ''

Dotmusic ''Dotmusic'' was a music webzine that existed as a standalone website from 1 June 1995 to December 2003. Initially intended as the web complement to the UK music industry trade magazine ''Music Week'', the site was relaunched in December 1998 as a ...

'' viewed it as "a soaring romantic

which calls for a powerful voice that Whigfield just about manages to supply." Ross Jones from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described it as a "

Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

-esque slowie". A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' gave it two out of five, saying that "after a trio of delightful frothy pop successes, Whigfield goes balladeering but her harsh voice jars with the undoubted sweetness of the song."

Chart performance

Not as successful as her first three singles, "Close to You" still was a moderate hit in Europe. It was a top 20 hit in Denmark (18), Ireland (18), Spain (19) and the United Kingdom. In the latter, the single peaked at number 13 on 10 September 1995, during its second week on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. It also entered the top 40 in Iceland (33) and top 100 in Germany (90). On the

, "Close to You" reached number 67.

Music video

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was produced to promote the single. It pays homage to the paintings of American artist

Edward Hopper Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realist painter and printmaker. While he is widely known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching. Hopper created subdued drama ...

such as ''Automat'', ''Morning Sun'', and ''Office in a Small City''. It begins with Carlson glancing and singing at an open window without glass while she is lounging in bed. Other scenes are showing her performing at a grand piano while a man is playing on it. Occasionally, several different people are seen lying, sitting or standing alone on their own by the open window. All of them in the same old style. In the end, these people are sitting next to each other outside, all of them lounging in the sun, finally slowly fading away until the chairs are empty and leaves are blowing in the wind.

Track listings

* UK: CD-maxi 1: Systematic # "Close to You" 4:07 # "Saturday Night" (classic vocal mix) 9:18 # "Another Day" (The French remix) 4:39 * UK: CD-maxi 2: Systematic # "Close to You" 4:07 # "It's Alright" 4:42 # "Saturday Night"/"Another Day" (The Canadian Mega mix) 10:20 * Spain: CD-maxi: Systemic # "Close to You" (single version) 4:07 # "Close to You" (Down Town remix) 4:56 # "Think of You" ( DMC remix) 7:07 * Australian EP # "Close to You" (radio edit) # "Close to You" (Downtown remix) # "Ain't it Blue" (original version)

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1990s ballads 1995 singles 1995 songs Whigfield songs Songs written by Ann Lee (singer) Songs written by Larry Pignagnoli English-language Italian songs