"Solo" is a song by British electronic music band

Clean Bandit Clean Bandit are an English electronic music group, formed in Cambridge in 2008. They have had four number 1 hits and ten top 10 hits on the UK Singles Chart. They direct and produce their own music videos, many of which have been nominated for ...

, featuring guest vocals from American singer

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for pl ...

and pitched backing vocals from Kamille. It was written by Lovato, Kamille, Grace Chatto, Fred Gibson and Jack Patterson, and was produced by Chatto, Gibson, Patterson and Mark Ralph. The song was released on 18 May 2018 by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most ...

. "Solo" was a worldwide hit. It topped the charts in thirteen countries, earned Diamond certifications in France and Poland, and went platinum in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. "Solo" was the most searched song on

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in 2018, with 9.1 million tags worldwide.

Background

The song was first revealed when a dancer posted on her Instagram Stories that she was starring in a Clean Bandit and Demi Lovato music video. Clean Bandit teased the song on 10 May 2018, writing on Instagram and

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: "Really excited to announce our new single Solo with Demi Lovato will be out 18/05." The announcement came with the song's cover art. Camille Purcell also disclosed in a tweet that she has been involved in the making of "Solo". Grace Chatto of Clean Bandit told the ''

London Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' that "Solo" was based on her own experience with a "difficult break-up". She also revealed that the song was recorded over

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because the band was unable to schedule a studio session with Lovato. "It was crazy. She was in Alabama in a studio and we were over here. You know when the connection is bad and the speed fluctuates? We couldn't hear that well, but it turned out really well."

Composition

"Solo" is an upbeat

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstra ...

song about

self-love Self-love, defined as "love of self" or "regard for one's own happiness or advantage", has been conceptualized both as a basic human necessity and as a moral flaw, akin to vanity and selfishness, synonymous with amour-propre, conceitedness, ...

in spite of a heartbreak. It is performed in the key of

B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major. The B natural minor scale is: : Changes need ...

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

of 105 beats per minute, following a progression of Bm–A–Fm–G and Bm–A–D–G, and Lovato's vocals span from A₃ to D₅. Described as a "summer anthem", it opens with a "buoyant production". The chorus consists of a mix of synth and

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder was ...

effects, and it bears a resemblance to

Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence in February 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh's single, " Hot Right Now", which reached number one in the UK. Her debut stud ...

's " Anywhere".

Commercial performance

"Solo" reached number one in the United Kingdom, becoming Clean Bandit's fourth UK chart-topper and Lovato's first number-one song in the nation. In Australia, the song has reached number 7, giving Clean Bandit their fourth and Lovato their second top 10 entry in the country. It additionally peaked at number one in Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Slovakia, as well as the top ten in Australia, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Latvia, Lebanon, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Singapore, Slovenia, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Live performances

The song was added to the set list of the European leg of Lovato's Tell Me You Love Me World Tour. Clean Bandit performed the song during their set at the

Capital FM Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capitals, List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the dura ...

Summertime Ball along with Lovato as a special guest on 9 June 2018.

Music videos

The music video was released on 31 May 2018, starring the members of Clean Bandit and Demi Lovato. The video follows Clean Bandit's Grace Chatto and a "lover", actor George Todd McLachlan as they argue. As the arguments become violent, Chatto grabs her longboard and skates into town where she ends up at a laundromat. Hidden behind the washing machines in an office, she pays an attendant (Ko Hyojoo) for an unknown concoction. The video then follows Hyojoo, who skates with a longboard down the road, to retrieve this medicine which is being made for her by Jack and Luke Patterson. Before that, Luke suggests choosing the shape of a bearded dragon or a rabbit. Then they make a decision to choose the shape of a dog. In the end, with the help of the medicine, Chatto turns her abusive partner into a rainbow golden Labrador puppy. The video is briefly intercut with images of Chatto lying on a bed and a sun lounger with her face seemingly evaporating. Lovato makes brief appearances throughout in a floral top as she sings the track's vocals. As of November 2021, the music video has garnered over 900 million views on YouTube. A black and white acoustic version of the video was released on 15 June 2018. On 17 August 2018, a Japanese version of the video was released. This video was filmed in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ...

and focuses on the dichotomy of trying to break away one's feelings and moving on from the past with the inner turmoil that comes along with it. The music video features a popular local dancer named Nana from the dance unit KiKiRara. Nana portrays the feeling of wanting to break away (dressed as a

Maiko A is an apprentice geisha in Kyoto and Their jobs consist of performing songs, dances, and playing the or other traditional Japanese instruments for visitors during banquets and parties, known as . are usually aged between 17 to 20 years ...

) as well as the feeling of wanting to hang on, portrayed as a-lady-in-a-black-costume. This music video was filmed in Japan's historical tourist sites in Kyoto, Japan. It was directed by Yutaka Obara.

Track listing

*Digital download #"Solo" (featuring Demi Lovato) – 3:42 *Digital download – Wideboys remix #"Solo" (featuring Demi Lovato) (

Wideboys The Wideboys are an English electronic music duo known for club remixes and for their own song "Sambuca", featuring Dennis G on vocals, which reached number 15 in the UK in October 2001. Another top 40 single, "Daddy-O" featuring Shaznay Lewis, ...

remix) – 3:08 *Digital download – acoustic version #"Solo" (featuring Demi Lovato) (acoustic) – 3:45 *Digital download – Ofenbach remix #"Solo" (featuring Demi Lovato) ( Ofenbach remix) – 3:48 *Digital download – Sofi Tukker remix #"Solo" (featuring Demi Lovato) (

Sofi Tukker Sofi Tukker (stylized in all caps) is a musical duo based in Florida consisting of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern. They are best known for their songs " Drinkee", " Best Friend", and " Purple Hat". "Best Friend" was featured in a commer ...

remix) – 3:24 *Digital download – M-22 remix #"Solo" (featuring Demi Lovato) ( M-22 remix) – 5:15 *Digital download – Latin remix #"Solo" (featuring Demi Lovato) (Latin remix) – 3:42 *Digital download – Yxng Bane remix #"Solo" (featuring Demi Lovato) (

Yxng Bane Larry Cummings Kiala, better known by his stage name Yxng Bane (pronounced "young bane"), is a British rapper, singer and songwriter from East London. Early and personal life Kiala grew up in Custom House, an industrial district of East London' ...

remix) – 3:41 *Digital download – Seeb remix #"Solo" (featuring Demi Lovato) ( Seeb remix) – 3:14

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and 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 Google, and is the second most ...

. *

– vocals, songwriting * Camille Purcell – backing vocals, songwriting * Grace Chatto – production, songwriting, cello, mixing * Jack Patterson – production, songwriting, guitar, mixing, synthesizer *

Fred Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Ro ...

– production, songwriting, keyboard, drum programming, synthesizer * Mark Ralph – production, mixing * Tom AD Fuller – mix engineering * Stuart Hawkes – master engineering * Mitch Allan – engineering * Mike Horner – engineering * Luke Patterson – percussion * James Boyd – viola * Beatrice Philips – violin * Stephanie Benedetti – violin * Scott Cutler – songwriting * Anne Preven – songwriting

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2018 singles 2018 songs 2010s ballads Atlantic Records singles Clean Bandit songs Demi Lovato songs Electropop ballads Number-one singles in Austria Ultratop 50 Singles (Wallonia) number-one singles Number-one singles in Finland Number-one singles in Germany Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Israel Number-one singles in Russia Number-one singles in Poland Pop ballads Songs written by Kamille (musician) Songs written by Demi Lovato Songs written by Grace Chatto Songs written by Jack Patterson (Clean Bandit) Electronic dance music songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles Songs written by Fred Again Black-and-white music videos Song recordings produced by Mark Ralph (record producer)