"Imperfections" is a song by Canadian singer
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...
from her twelfth English-language studio album, ''
Courage
Courage (also called bravery or valor) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in battle.
Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, h ...
'' (2019). It was written by
Lauv
Ari Staprans Leff (born August 8, 1994), known professionally as Lauv (), is an American singer and musician, best known for his breakout hit "I Like Me Better"; included on his compilation album ''I Met You When I Was 18 (The Playlist)'', wh ...
,
Michael Pollack, Nicholas Perloff-Giles and
DallasK
Dallas James Koehlke (born 1991), better known by his stage name DallasK, is an American DJ, record producer, writer, artist, and singer based in Los Angeles. Active since 2010, he co-wrote and produced Fifth Harmony's 5× platinum single, " Work ...
, and produced by DallasK. "Imperfections" was released as a digital download on 18 September 2019. The music video premiered on 26 September 2019 and the song impacted
adult contemporary radio
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet s ...
in the United States on 30 September 2019. "Imperfections" topped the sales and radio charts in Quebec, and received positive reviews from music critics. Dion performed it during her
Courage World Tour
The Courage World Tour is the fourteenth concert tour by Canadian singer Celine Dion, in support of her English-language studio album ''Courage'' (2019). It was her first world tour in over a decade, since her Taking Chances World Tour. The tou ...
.
Background and release
"Imperfections" was written by American singer-songwriter
Lauv
Ari Staprans Leff (born August 8, 1994), known professionally as Lauv (), is an American singer and musician, best known for his breakout hit "I Like Me Better"; included on his compilation album ''I Met You When I Was 18 (The Playlist)'', wh ...
, American DJ-producer
DallasK
Dallas James Koehlke (born 1991), better known by his stage name DallasK, is an American DJ, record producer, writer, artist, and singer based in Los Angeles. Active since 2010, he co-wrote and produced Fifth Harmony's 5× platinum single, " Work ...
,
Michael Pollack and Nicholas Perloff-Giles, and produced by DallasK. Together with the songs "
Lying Down
"Lying Down" is a song by Canadian singer Celine Dion from her twelfth English-language studio album, ''Courage'' (2019). It was written by David Guetta, Giorgio Tuinfort and Sia, and produced by Guetta and Tuinfort. "Lying Down" was released as ...
" and "
Courage
Courage (also called bravery or valor) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in battle.
Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, h ...
", it was released as a digital download on 18 September 2019, the day Dion started her
Courage World Tour
The Courage World Tour is the fourteenth concert tour by Canadian singer Celine Dion, in support of her English-language studio album ''Courage'' (2019). It was her first world tour in over a decade, since her Taking Chances World Tour. The tou ...
, promoting her album ''
Courage
Courage (also called bravery or valor) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in battle.
Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, h ...
''.
"Imperfections" is a mid-tempo dance track with an electronic beat, which focuses on self-criticism.
It impacted
adult contemporary radio
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet s ...
in the United States on 30 September 2019.
On 7 December 2019, "Imperfections" was added under the B-list on
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
airplay playlist in the United Kingdom.
On 26 February 2020, a new stripped-down version of "Imperfections" was released on
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
, along with Dion's cover of "
Wicked Game
"Wicked Game" is a song by American rock musician Chris Isaak, released from his third album, '' Heart Shaped World'' (1989). Despite being released as a single in July 1989, it did not become a hit until it was featured in the 1990 David Lynch ...
" with
Chris Isaak
Christopher Joseph Isaak (born June 26, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional actor. He is widely known for his breakthrough hit and signature song "Wicked Game", as well as other songs such as "Blue Hotel", "Baby D ...
.
Critical reception
The song received positive critical reviews. According to A Bit of Pop Music, "Imperfections" is a good song with contemporary radio pop production.
It is very 2019 and very Celine Dion at the same time.
Lyrics are simple, same as Dion's vocals.
Mike Wass from
Idolator
An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry.
Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books
*''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music
* Idolator (website), an American music blog
* ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...
described "Imperfections" as Dion's most contemporary-sounding song in years, with catchy chorus about self-reflection: "I've got my own imperfections, I got my own set of scars to hide".
Commercial performance
In Quebec, "Imperfections" topped the radio chart for 15 weeks
and the sales chart for five weeks.
In Canada, it reached number five on the Adult Contemporary chart,
number 40 on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart,
and number 69 on the
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...
.
In the United States, "Imperfections" peaked at number 11 on the
Adult Contemporary chart
The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by sta ...
and number 23 on Pop Digital Song Sales.
It also peaked at number 17 in Belgium Wallonia,
number 32 in Croatia,
number 43 on the sales chart in France
and number 97 in Scotland.
Music video
The music video for "Imperfections" was directed by Gabriel Coutu-Dumont and produced by Sailor Productions/Silent Partners Studio.
It was shot entirely in black and white, with Dion taking over the screen in various gowns and high-end ensembles.
The music video was released on 26 September 2019. Emily Zemler from ''
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 it evocative, with glamorous, behind-the-scenes Hollywood aesthetic, which is juxtaposed with the lyrics as Dion reflects on self-criticism, noting, "I got my own imperfections".
At the end of the music video, Dion appears completely without makeup, which is in sync with the message of the song: "I got my own imperfections/I got my own set of scars to hide/I got my own imperfections/I can't hold your heart when I'm fixing mine".
Nicholas Hautman from ''
Us Weekly
''Us Weekly'' is a weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to American Media Inc ...
'' called it stunning in everything from a puffy black dress to a strapless white gown. "As the song continues to play, Dion heads back to her dressing room and takes a makeup wipe to her face, baring her natural beauty", he continued. Rebecca Alter from
Vulture.com said it was "perfect" continuing, "queen Celine does a frankly abysmal job convincing us that she's anything but perfect, singing in a perfect voice about her inadequacies while stunting in couture perfectly. The drama of her body language in billowing sleeves? Heaven. Her stripes and oversize polka dots and large hat wide-stanced Cirque du Soleil fashion narrative? Art. Her running, Bird Box blindfolded, toward the camera in black-and-white like a high-glamour human embodiment of that old-timey movie of the train driving toward the audience? The Lumière brothers wish! We know she's perfect." she said.
Credits and personnel
*
Ari Leff
Ari Staprans Leff (born August 8, 1994), known professionally as Lauv (), is an American singer and musician, best known for his breakout hit "I Like Me Better"; included on his compilation album ''I Met You When I Was 18 (The Playlist)'', whi ...
– composer, lyricist, associated performer
*
Dallas Koehlke – composer, lyricist, producer, associated performer, background vocal, recording engineer
*
Michael Pollack – composer, lyricist, associated performer, background vocal
*Nicholas Perloff-Giles – composer, lyricist
*Alyssa Lourdiz Cantu – background vocal
*François Lalonde – recording engineer
*Serban Ghenea – mixing engineer
*
Vlado Meller
Vlado Meller is a Slovak audio mastering engineer, currently with Vlado Meller Mastering in Charleston, South Carolina. Meller works across many genres of music, with credits on rock, hip-hop, pop, jazz, metal, dance, opera, Broadway, and classica ...
– mastering engineer
*John McL. Doelp – executive producer
Source:
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Release history
References
{{authority control
2019 singles
2019 songs
2010s ballads
Celine Dion songs
Columbia Records singles
Pop ballads
Black-and-white music videos
Songs written by Lauv
Songs written by Michael Pollack (musician)
Songs written by DallasK