"Dangerous" is a song written and performed by British singer–songwriter Sarah Joyce, known by her stage name as Rumer, for her third studio album '' Into Colour'' (2014). It was released on 22 September 2014 and differs from most of her songs for its

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

style and upbeat tone. The song was well received by

critics A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

and peaked at number 36 on the

Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Japan for songs. It has been compiled by ''Billboard Japan'' and '' Hanshin Contents Link'' since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at Billboard-japan.com ( JST) and every Thur ...

Composition

Joyce explained that "Dangerous" was about her fear of re-entering the music industry following

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...

and

ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inapp ...

, only translated to a love song: "I had so much resistance to going back into writing and performing publicly again that I realised I wasn't going to be able to break through it until I literally wrote a song about the resistance itself." She songs on the song, "It's taken me a long time to feel better babe / I've only just begun to feel my heart again." Helen Brown, a writer for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', suggested the line "You want me to let go/ You want me to lose control/ But I don't want to lose control," was a response to "critics who find her too smooth and safe." Musically, "Dangerous" is an

uptempo A variety of musical terms are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special mus ...

, 1970s-inspired

pop track that includes strings,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

-esque bass, and a

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 ...

guitar section in its instrumentation, and the song differs from most of her music for being upbeat and disco-tinged.

Critical reception

''Glasswerk'' called "Dangerous" an "instant classic." Tom Ingham praised Joyce's vocal performance as her "most colourful and charged" to date. ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' critic Paul Mardles, labeling most of '' Into Colour'' as "flat" and "forgettable," found "Dangerous" to be the album's most memorable track for its disco style. Writer Paul John, however, criticized it for being a "slightly dishonest representation of the remainder of the album," but nonetheless called it "a wonderful song in and of itself." ''

The Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' described it as a "smooth and sexy hommage to the elegant days of early disco. Less 'sweaty dancefloor' and more 'martinis and mirrorballs.' Just the way we like it."Kyriazis, Stefan (9 October 2014)
"VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: The wonderful Rumer is back with a brand new single Dangerous"
''

''. Retrieved 3 April 2018.

Music video

On 15 October 2014, a video for the song "Dangerous" was released. Directed by Anthony Byrne and produced by Jess Bell, the video depicts a manager for a ballet company who crushes on a male ballet dancer.Knight, David (15 October 2014)
"Rumer 'Dangerous' by Anthony Byrne"
''Promo News''. Retrieved 3 April 2018.

Personnel

Adapted from the liner notes of '' Into Colour'': *Written and sung by Sarah Joyce *Backing vocals by Porter Carroll and Sharon Bryant *Production, writing, arrangement, conducting, bass, piano, organ, percussion, additional programming, and engineering by Rob Shirakbari *Also written by

Rick Nowels Richard Wright Nowels Jr. is an American songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and arranger. He has co-written and co-produced over 90 hit singles with multiple artistsStephen Bishop *Recorded at

Electric Lady Studios Electric Lady Studios is a recording studio in Greenwich Village, New York City. It was commissioned by rock musician Jimi Hendrix in 1968 and designed by architect John Storyk and audio engineer Eddie Kramer by 1970. Hendrix spent only ten ...

and Frisbie Studios in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Water Studios in

Hoboken Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,69 ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and RAK Studios in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

*Alto saxophone by Lisa Graheme *Baritone and tenor saxophone by Derek Nash *Bass by Zev Katz *Cello by Dave Daniels, Ian Burdge, Martin Loveday, and

Richard Harwood :''Richard Harwood is also the assumed name of National Front member Richard Verrall.'' Richard Craig Harwood (born 8 August 1979) is a British cellist. Biography Richard Harwood was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire and began learning to p ...

*Drums and percussion by

Ash Soan Ashley Soan is a British drummer. His influences include Stewart Copeland, Steve Ferrone, Jim Keltner, James Gadson, Phil Rudd, Art Blakey, Steve Gadd. Early life Educated at the Grove School In Market Drayton, Shropshire, Ashley Soan started ...

*Guitar by

Paul Pesco Paul Pesco (born May 13, 1959) is an American session guitarist, singer-songwriter, film score composer and record producer. Biography Pesco was born in Canandaigua, New York, to a Sicilian father (an opera singer and voice instructor) and Kore ...

*Trombone by Winston Rollins *Trumpet by Chris Storr and Martin Shaw *Viola by Bill Hawkes, Bruce White, Maxine Moore, and Nick Barr *Violin by Alison Dods, Chris Tombling, Emlyn Singleton, Everton Nelson, Ian Humphries, Magnus Johnstone, Mark Berrow, Matt Ward, Natalia Bonner, Patrick Kiernan, Rita Manning, and Steve Morris *Strings recorded and engineered by Geoff Foster *Mixed by

Michael H. Brauer Michael Brauer is a New York-based mix engineer. He received a Grammy for "Best Pop Vocal Album" for his work on John Mayer's ''Continuum (John Mayer album), Continuum'', "Best Alternative Album" for Coldplay's ''Parachutes (Coldplay album), Parachu ...

at Electric Lady Studios *Assistant mixing and

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

engineering by Mark Bengtson *Also engineered by Mike Horner, Richard Woodcraft, Sean Kelly, John Horne), and Steve Vealey *Mastered by

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...

Release history

Charts

References

{{authority control 2014 songs Rumer (musician) songs Songs written by Rumer (musician) Songs written by Rick Nowels