"Lights Down Low" is a song by American singer Max Schneider (better known as MAX) from his 2016 album, '' Hell's Kitchen Angel''. The song was written by Schneider, Nathaniel Motte, and Liam O'Donnell, with Motte serving as the producer. A later remix of the song includes a feature and writing contribution from singer gnash. The song, which MAX used to propose to his wife Emily, was released in October 2016; it became a

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little prom ...

, entering the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 more than a year after its release, and also earning a

Platinum certification Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

from the RIAA for sales of more than 1,000,000 copies. The song had an accompanying music video tracing the life of a couple living in an apartment. A "Latin Mix" featuring Argentine singer Tini was released on December 15, 2017.

Background

After recording the song, MAX played it for his girlfriend, Emily, followed by a marriage proposal which she accepted. Originally, MAX planned to release the song in its solo form, but he decided to feature American rapper gnash on it after "this moment where I was like, 'Well, I kind of hear nash'svoice on "Lights Down Low." I never considered a rapper, it's a ballad, but you know what? I'm just gonna talk to him.'" After the song's release, it drew much attention in the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

community. In a 2017 interview with ''Billboard'', MAX stated that "It's not our song anymore. It's everybody's song. Everybody is able to add whatever they want to it, what it is to them, and in that way, it becomes so much less — it's not about us anymore. It's not about even the artist or the writer or the singer, it's about what it can stand for for people."

Composition

"Lights Down Low" is a midempo pop song, with a length of 3 minutes and 44 seconds. Its instrumentation consists of keyboards, drums, guitar, and handclaps with

Guitar pop Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

and Acoustic pop elements and features a "Soulful" voice.

Music video

The music video stars MAX and his wife, Emily. The music video was shot above a bed; it depicts MAX in various relationships over the course of his lifetime. The video was directed by Crush Music and Christian Snell. Jade Ehlers, who is the creative director at Crush Music, explained that "the music video depicts what one's life might look like if they lived in one apartment their whole life."

Commercial performance

The song was a

, becoming MAX's first ''Billboard'' Hot 100 entry as a lead artist. It peaked at number 20 on the chart dated March 3, 2018. The song reached number one on the ''Billboard''

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

and number seven on the Mainstream Top 40. The radio promotion for the song was led by Brent Battles and Christopher Steven Brown of RED MUSIC. It also reached number 11 on the Canada Hot Adult Contemporary chart. Its unexpected success was credited to strong airplay by

hot adult contemporary 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 ...

stations in the United States. In Belgium, the song peaked at number five on

Ultratip Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization of ...

's Bubbling Under Singles chart, spending a total of eight weeks on the chart. In September 2017, the song was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

in the United States for sales of more than 500,000 copies. In January 2018, the certification was upgraded to

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

for sales of more than 1,000,000 copies.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

music video
on YouTube
music video (feat. Gnash)
on YouTube {{authority control 2017 singles 2016 songs Max Schneider songs Songs written by Nathaniel Motte Pop ballads