"Smile" is a song by American

pop rock 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 ...

band R5. It had its radio premiere on November 14, 2014, as the lead single from their second studio album, ''

Sometime Last Night ''Sometime Last Night'' is the second and final studio album by American pop rock band R5. It was released on July 10, 2015 by Hollywood Records. The album was announced alongside a tour, which began in June 2015 and ended in December 2016. Five ...

''.

Writing and composition

The song was written by

Leah Haywood Leah Jacqueline Cooney, known professionally as Haywood (formerly Leah Haywood), is an Australian record producer, songwriter and singer. Born in New Zealand, she grew up in Perth, Western Australia, and recorded a top 40 album, ''Leah'', re ...

, Daniel James, Brian Lee and

Matt Thiessen Matthew Arnold Thiessen (born August 12, 1980) is a Canadian-American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer known for being co-founder, lead singer, guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for the Christian rock band Relient K. Wit ...

and produced by Dreamlab and Randall Bobbitt. The band's frontman,

Ross Lynch Ross Shor Lynch (born December 29, 1995) is an American actor, singer, and musician. He was the lead vocalist of the pop rock band R5 and is one half of the band the Driver Era (with his brother Rocky Lynch). As an actor, he rose to recogniti ...

, told

Teen Magazine Teen magazines are magazines aimed at teenage readers. They usually consist of gossip, news, fashion tips and interviews and may include posters, stickers, small samples of cosmetics or other products and inserts. The teen magazine industry ...

that the song was about "doing ridiculous things in order to make someone else smile" and "the simplicity of just happiness." "Smile" has a length of three minutes and twenty one seconds and sonically, "classic

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

" was the main inspiration of its sound. "Smile" was compared to Maroon 5 and

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical ...

Reception

"Smile" has received generally positive reviews. '' Bop and Tiger Beat'' magazine said the song was "sweet, catchy and great". Vivan Pham of ''Pop Dust'' noted that the band's sound has changed, no longer teen to become something more mature. She was positive and said it was "great". Raffy Ermac to

said "Smile" was the band's best song so far and they were "playing better than ever".

Live performances

The first "Smile" performance was in Family Channel special Family Day, in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, on November 16, 2014. On November 23, the band performed at the

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Pro ...

. On November 28, they performed in Good Morning America.

Music video

On November 14, 2014, the band released a live video in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, to promote the song. The official music video was premiered on MTV on December 23, 2014. MTV also released an exclusive interview and behind-the-scenes, entitled "What Makes R5 Smile?". The video shows the band backwards in a wooded park in four different scenes, like the four seasons. In the summer the band plays with

water gun A water gun (or water pistol, water blaster, or squirt gun) is a type of toy gun designed to shoot jets of water. Similar to water balloons, the primary purpose of the toy is to soak another person in a recreational game such as water fight. ...

s shirtless, in the

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season) Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...

they're on a picnic, in the autumn they dance in the rain among the dry leaves, in the

winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultur ...

they cut firewood in the snow.

Charts

Release history

References

External links

* {{R5 (band) 2014 singles 2014 songs Hollywood Records singles R5 (band) songs Songs written by Leah Haywood Songs written by Daniel James (record producer) Songs written by Brian Lee (songwriter) Songs written by Matt Thiessen