"Close" is a song recorded by American singer

Nick Jonas Nicholas Jerry Jonas (born September 16, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Jonas began acting on Broadway at the age of seven, and released his debut single in 2002; this caught the attention of Columbia Records, where Jonas ...

from his third studio album, '' Last Year Was Complicated''. The track features guest vocals from Swedish singer-songwriter

Tove Lo Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson (born 29 October 1987), known professionally as Tove Lo (), is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She is known for her raw, grunge-influenced take on pop music. Referring to her autobiographical lyrics, ''Out (magazine), O ...

. It was released on March 25, 2016, by Island, Safehouse and Republic Records as the album's lead single. The song was written by

Julia Michaels Julia Carin Michaels (''Birth name, née'' Cavazos; born November 13, 1993) is an American singer and songwriter. She has received six Grammy Award nominations, including twice for Grammy Award for Song of the Year, Song of the Year and Grammy A ...

, Justin Tranter, and its producers Mattias "Mattman" Larsson and Robin Fredriksson.

Background

During a Twitter session, Jonas explained that the track is "about how I literally can't open up and be vulnerable with someone". The melody of the song was released over the days before the release of the song, through several tweets.

Composition

The song is written in the key of

A major A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The A major scale is: Changes needed for the ...

with a tempo of 120 beats per minute.

Critical reception

James Grebey of ''Spin'' magazine called "Close" a "sultry" track and deeply personal. Brittany Spanos of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' called the song a sexy, steel-drum assisted single. Stephen Erlewine of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote a positive review saying "'Close,' a duet with Tove Lo, is perhaps the best showcase for this aspect of Nick Jonas, but the entirety of Last Year Was Complicated walks a fine line between immaculately produced pop confection and personal confession."

Live performance

Jonas performed the song live with Tove Lo on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' on April 16, 2016. On April 24, 2016, he performed the song during his 75-minute set at the New Orleans Jazz Fest. He performed the song with Thomas Rhett and Danielle Bradbery for an episode of ''

CMT Crossroads ''CMT Crossroads'' is an American television program broadcast on CMT that pairs country music artists with musicians from other music genres such as alternative rock, pop, R&B, Rock, soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, ...

''. On April 28, Jonas and Tove Lo performed the song on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...

''. Jonas performed the song solo on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The show ran for nineteen seasons from September 8, 2003, to May 26, 2022, in which it broadcast 3,339 episodes. It was produced by ...

'' on May 9, 2016. He and Tove Lo performed "Close" live on May 22, 2016, at the

2016 Billboard Music Awards The 2016 ''Billboard'' Music Awards ceremony was held on May 22, 2016, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the first nationally televised event to originate from that venue. It aired live on ABC with hosts Ludacris and Ciara. The nom ...

. On June 10, he performed the song live on Today. Jonas performed the song as a part of his setlist for the Future Now Tour with

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne "Demi" Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), she starred in the Disney Channel short series ...

singing Lo's lyrics. Jonas also performed the song live on German TV show '' Germany's Next Topmodel''.

Music video

The music video was released the same day as the single and was directed by Tim Erem. The video depicts both singers unable to physically touch each other as they are continuously pulled away from the other. As their clothes are ripped away, the pair is able to finally get close. The more vulnerable the pair get, the closer they are able to get.

Track listing

*Digital download remixes #"Close" – 3:28 #"Close" – 3:44

Credits and personnel

– lead vocals *

– songwriting, featured vocals * Robin Fredriksson – writing, production * Mattias Larsson – writing, production *

– writing * Justin Tranter – writing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control Island Records singles 2016 singles 2016 songs Nick Jonas songs Tove Lo songs Safehouse Records singles Song recordings produced by Mattman & Robin Songs written by Justin Tranter Songs written by Tove Lo Songs written by Julia Michaels Songs written by Robin Fredriksson Songs written by Mattias Larsson Torch songs Male–female vocal duets