"These Days" is a song by English

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

band

Rudimental Rudimental are a British drum and bass band, signed to Asylum Records, Atlantic Records and Black Butter Records. The band consists of Piers Aggett, Kesi Dryden and Leon "Locksmith" Rolle. They were nominated for a Mercury Prize in 2013, and ...

, featuring British singers

Jess Glynne Jessica Hannah Glynne (born 20 October 1989) is an English singer and songwriter. After signing with Atlantic Records, she rose to prominence in 2014 as a featured artist on the singles "Rather Be" by Clean Bandit and " My Love" by Route 94, bot ...

and

Dan Caplen Daniel Caplen (born 27 March 1992), also known as his stage name D/C, is a British R&B singer, songwriter and musician based in Brixton in London. He was educated at St Edmund's School Canterbury. He is signed to Atlantic Records UK and release ...

as well as American rapper

Macklemore Benjamin Hammond Haggerty (born June 19, 1983), better known by his stage name Macklemore ( ; (formerly Professor Macklemore), is an American rapper and songwriter. A native of Seattle, Washington, he has collaborated with producer Ryan Lewi ...

. It was released on 19 January 2018 as the second single from Rudimental's third studio album, ''

Toast to Our Differences ''Toast to our Differences'' is the third studio album by English drum and bass band Rudimental, released on 25 January 2019 through Asylum Records. The album was originally planned to be released in September 2018, but was delayed to include mor ...

'', following their UK top 10 hit " Sun Comes Up". After spending a record-tying seven weeks at number two, the song reached number one in the UK on 30 March 2018, becoming Rudimental's third UK number-one single, Glynne's sixth, and both Macklemore (as a solo artist) and Caplen's first. This also made Glynne the British female solo artist with the most UK chart-toppers in history. The song also reached number one in Austria, Czech Republic, Latvia, Norway and Scotland, as well as the top 10 in numerous countries including Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Background

Dan Caplen,

Jamie Scott Jamie Scott (born James Christopher Needle; 12 February 1984) is an Ivor Novello Award winning English singer, songwriter and producer. Career Songwriting As a writer and producer Scott has sold over 100 million albums, 50 million singles, has ...

, Julian Bunetta and John Ryan wrote a demo for "These Days" in 2016. After it was produced by Rudimental, Caplen showed it to Macklemore in Los Angeles and he was excited to feature on it. The final vocalist to join was Jess Glynne, who added her vocals to the song after a studio session in 2017.

Music video

An official music video was released to Rudimental's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel on 25 January 2018. The video was filmed 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 ...

, directed by Johnny Valencia and produced by Shabana Mansuri.

Chart performance

On 26 January 2018, "These Days" entered 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 ...

at number 33. Two weeks later it charted at number 2, held off the top spot by

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

's song "

God's Plan God's Plan may refer to: Theological concepts * God's plan, or the Will of God * Salvation, the saving of a soul from sin and its consequences ** Plan of salvation, a Christian concept describing God's plan to save humanity ** Plan of salvation ( ...

". Drake kept Rudimental at bay for a total of seven weeks, giving the latter a record-equalling stint at number 2; the only other songs in UK chart history to spend that number of weeks at number 2 are

All-4-One All-4-One is an American male R&B and pop group best known for their hit singles "I Swear", "So Much in Love" and "I Can Love You Like That". The group is composed of Jamie Jones, Delious Kennedy, Alfred Nevarez, and Tony Borowiak, all from t ...

's "

I Swear "I Swear" is a song written by Gary Baker and Frank J. Myers that became a hit for American country music artist John Michael Montgomery in 1993, and for American R&B group All-4-One in 1994. Released in November 1993 as the lead single from ...

" (1994) and "

Moves Like Jagger "Moves like Jagger" is a song by American band Maroon 5 featuring American singer Christina Aguilera. It was released on June 21, 2011, as the fourth and final single from the re-release of the group's third studio album '' Hands All Over'' (201 ...

" (2011) by

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...

featuring

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

. On 30 March, "God's Plan" became subject to accelerated chart ratio (ACR) and "These Days" finally reached number 1. Glynne and

Cheryl Cheryl is a female given name common in English speaking countries. There are several prevailing theories about its etymology. The most common is that it has Italo-Celtic roots and is an Anglicised version of either the French name Cherie (from ...

previously jointly held the record for most number-one singles by a British woman, with five each, but Glynne gained the record in her own right when "These Days" reached the summit. Rudimental, Glynne and Caplen performed the song live for the first time on ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...

'' on 7 February 2018.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2018 singles 2018 songs Rudimental songs Dan Caplen songs Jess Glynne songs Macklemore songs Asylum Records singles Number-one singles in Austria Number-one singles in Iceland Number-one singles in Norway Number-one singles in Scotland Song recordings produced by Rudimental Songs written by Amir Amor Songs written by Dan Caplen Songs written by Jamie Scott Songs written by Julian Bunetta Songs written by John Ryan (musician) Songs written by Macklemore UK Singles Chart number-one singles Song recordings produced by Mark Ralph (record producer)