Feel So Close Explained

Feel So Close
Cover:Calvin Harris - Feel So Close.png
Type:single
Artist:Calvin Harris
Album:18 Months
Written:2009
Recorded:Summer 2010
Length:3:27
Producer:Calvin Harris
Prev Title:Bounce
Prev Year:2011
Next Title:We Found Love
Next Year:2011

"Feel So Close" is a song by Scottish DJ and singer Calvin Harris, released as the second single from his third studio album, 18 Months (2012). In order to have lyrics and be standalone, Harris had to return to singing on this song, after previously stating he had stopped singing in concerts.[1] The song debuted at number two on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Harris's sixth solo top ten single. It also marked his second single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States—his first being Rihanna's "We Found Love", on which he is featured. The song had sold over 2.17 million copies in the US by the end of 2012.[2]

Background

Harris shared the story behind "Feel So Close" on 19 August 2021, the tenth anniversary of the song's release.

"I like remembering how it came about, cos at the time I was well confused about what to do with my life/career. At the end of summer 2010 I had played my last gig (Creamfields) with my 'band' and had done enough 'DJ set' gigs to know that I wanted to change the way my music was presented. I needed to stop singing every song as I had all these ideas for female singers and my falsetto just wasn't going to cut it.

So I began producing with a new purpose, excited I could give my songs to real singers and finally move closer to the role I had always dreamt of in music (weird dude in the background who never speaks).

After about 3 months of studio, I visited my record label Columbia and played them Awooga, Bounce and another ok song with a feature that ended up not coming out. The response from the label was overwhelmingly lukewarm; I came out of the meeting wondering if I had made the right decision in changing my path. That's putting it lightly actually I was gutted and my head was spinning, I thought I'd absolutely fucked it. So immediately I headed back to my studio room feeling properly sad but also enough 'fuck it I'll show em I'll sing on one then, and it'll be class' and made Feel So Close in a few hours."[3]

Critical reception

Robert Copsey of Digital Spy gave the song four out of five stars writing: "'I feel so close to you right now/ It's a force field', he sing-speaks in a clumsy but infatuated manner over melancholic piano chords, before a breezy, lyric-less chorus of squawking electronic sirens and crazy synths bound around like a bucking bronco at a Texas rodeo rave. The result is a wistful yet exhilarating club thumper—and as for those vocals, well, if you want something done right..."[4]

Music video

The music video for "Feel So Close", directed by Vincent Haycock,[5] premiered on Harris's official YouTube channel on 14 July 2011.[6] As well as depicting Harris watching and sitting with a girl, it also shows various groups of youths dancing, as was the theme of the previous video. It also features the rancher cowboy and his horse, who are featured on the single cover. It was filmed in and around Kern County, California. The truck stop scene was filmed at Astro Burgers, Boron adjacent to Reyes Polish—now Reyes Truck Polishing—in Kramer Junction in San Bernardino County, California; the suburban scene at the intersection of Clark and Lapis Streets, in Rosamond, California; the desert town scene in Randsburg, California.

In popular culture

"Feel So Close" was featured on the series The Secret Circle and The Vampire Diaries, the video game Guitar Hero Live and the trailer to the film Parental Guidance. The song was used for montages on episodes of RTÉ's League of Ireland highlight show Monday Night Soccer in the 2012 season.

In 2013, YouTube star Kurt Hugo Schneider and Coca-Cola teamed up to create music videos featuring creative covers of two 2011 hits namely "Feel So Close" and Of Monsters and Men's "Little Talks" for a campaign called "The Sounds of AHH". "Feel So Close" shows Schneider playing only Coca-Cola bottles, glasses and cans. In the version, he is accompanied by beatboxing cellist Kevin Olusola. Commercial edits of the video aired on season 13 premiere of American Idol on 14 January 2014 on FOX.[7]

The instrumental version of this song is also featured in a commercial for the Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone,[8] and the soundtrack to The Inbetweeners Movie.

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2011–2012)Peak
position
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Australia Dance (ARIA)[9] 7
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Brazil (Billboard Hot 100 Airplay)[10] 25
Brazil (Billboard Hot Pop Songs)6
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Romania (Romanian Top 100)[11] 31
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Year-end charts

Chart (2011)Position
Australia (ARIA)[12] 43
Australia Dance (ARIA)[13] 12
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[14] 99
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[15] 41
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[16] 46
Chart (2012)Position
Australia Dance (ARIA)[17] 22
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[18] 24
France (SNEP)[19] 134
Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[20] 65
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[21] 84
US Billboard Hot 100[22] 42
US Dance/Mix Show Airplay (Billboard)[23] 1
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[24] 40
Chart (2013)Position
Brazil (Crowley)[25] 85
France (SNEP)[26] 42

Release history

RegionDateFormatLabel
Ireland[27] 19 August 2011Digital download
United Kingdom[28] 21 August 2011
United States[29] 14 February 2012Mainstream radioUltra

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Copsey . Robert . Calvin Harris: 'I've quit singing' . . 26 November 2010.
  2. Web site: Grein . Paul . Chart Watch Extra: Top Songs of 2012 . . 3 January 2013 . 5 January 2013.
  3. Calvin Harris Marks 10-Year Anniversary of 'Feel So Close': ' I Thought I'd Absolutely F---ed It'. Bain. Katie. 23 August 2021. Billboard. 25 August 2021.
  4. Web site: Copsey . Robert . Calvin Harris: 'Feel So Close' . Digital Spy . 4 August 2011.
  5. Web site: Brown . Jimmy . Calvin Harris 'Feel So Close' by Vince Haycock . Promo News . 25 July 2011 . 8 December 2013.
  6. Calvin Harris - Feel so Close. 14 July 2011. YouTube.
  7. Web site: Behind the Bottles: 5 Questions With Kurt Hugo Schneider. The Coca-Cola Company. 17 January 2014. 6 May 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190506094112/https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/behind-the-bottles-5-questions-with-kurt-hugo-schneider. dead.
  8. Web site: Samsung GALAXY S5 Official TVC . . 11 April 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140411155939/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFTbDeeNaIo&gl=US&hl=en . 2014-04-11 .
  9. Web site: ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart . . 14 November 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111115044853/http://www.ariacharts.com.au/pages/charts_display.asp?chart=1U50 . 15 November 2011 . 8 December 2013.
  10. Billboard Brasil Hot 100 Airplay . . BPP . 33 . 84–89 . August 2012.
  11. Web site: Airplay 100 22 apr 2012 . ro . . 23 July 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130426043304/http://www.kissfm.ro/emisiuni/54/Airplay-100.html . 26 April 2013 .
  12. Web site: ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 100 Singles 2011 . . 5 January 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120127175050/http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-end-of-year-charts-top-100-singles-2011.htm . 27 January 2012.
  13. Web site: ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 50 Dance Singles 2011 . Australian Recording Industry Association . 8 December 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140127031425/http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-end-of-year-charts-dance-singles-2011.htm . 27 January 2014.
  14. Web site: Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 2011. Dutch Top 40. 23 October 2019.
  15. Web site: Top Selling Singles of 2011 . Recorded Music NZ . 6 September 2012.
  16. Web site: The Top 20 biggest selling singles of 2011 revealed! . Official Charts Company . 2 January 2012 . 9 June 2012.
  17. Web site: ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 50 Dance Singles 2012 . Australian Recording Industry Association . 8 December 2013.
  18. Web site: 2012 Year End Charts – Canadian Hot 100 . . 8 December 2013.
  19. Web site: Classement des 200 premiers Singles Fusionnés par GfK année 2012. fr. SNEP. 19 August 2018.
  20. Web site: MAHASZ Rádiós TOP 100 – radios . hu . MAHASZ . 18 January 2013.
  21. Web site: Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 2012. Dutch Top 40. 23 October 2019.
  22. Web site: 2012 Year End Charts – Hot 100 Songs . Billboard.biz. Prometheus Global Media . 8 December 2013.
  23. Dance/Mix Show Songs – Year-End 2012. Billboard. 10 September 2019.
  24. Pop Songs – Year-End 2012. Billboard. 10 September 2019.
  25. Web site: Brazilian Top 100 Year-End 2013. April 3, 2018. Crowley Broadcast Analysis. January 30, 2022.
  26. Web site: Top de l'année Top Singles 2013. SNEP. fr. 21 November 2020.
  27. Web site: Feel So Close – EP by Calvin Harris . . 19 August 2011.
  28. Web site: Feel So Close by Calvin Harris . . 8 December 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130922145905/http://www.7digital.com/artist/calvin-harris/release/feel-so-close . 22 September 2013.
  29. Web site: Top 40/Mainstream > Future Releases . AllAccess.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20120215131612/http://www.allaccess.com/top40-mainstream/future-releases . 15 February 2012 . 25 January 2012 . dead.