Released 21 July 2016 Recorded 2016 Length 3:05 | Format Digital download Genre EDM Label Mad Decent | |
"Cold Water" is a song recorded by electronic music group Major Lazer, taken as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Music Is the Weapon (2017), featuring vocals from Canadian artist Justin Bieber and Danish singer MØ. It was written by Major Lazer member Diplo, Ed Sheeran, Nick Kibler, MØ, Justin Bieber, Jamie Scott, Benny Blanco, Philip "Jr. Blender" Meckseper and Henry "King Henry" Allen; the latter three also co-produced it with Major Lazer. "Cold Water" was released on July 22, 2016.
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Background and release
The day before Diplo arrived in New York City in May 2016, he was "more than a little surprised" when Justin Bieber sent a message on Twitter about the track, "Cold Water", asking when it would be coming out. "That was not planned at all," Diplo said. According to Diplo, the song wasn't really done, when Bieber already expressed his excitement. "It's actually very real. Twitter is the only reason I know he's excited about the song. I don't have his number, so he Twitters at me", Diplo added. On May 30, Diplo announced Major Lazer's collaboration with Bieber and MØ. At the time, he did not give a specific release date, only mentioning it would be released "in a couple of weeks" and that it would premiere on Beats 1.
You can tell if something’s authentic or not… I felt like [MØ] was so ambiguous, having grown up singing pop and punk… Her word choice and her metaphors are just so foreign from American songwriters who tend to overuse the same phrases.
The song initially started a project, which will eventually build to Major Lazer's fourth studio album's January 2017 release. "It's complicated because we just want to do it indie," described Diplo of "Cold Water." "And convincing Bieber's marketing crew to do that is hard. We don't need to have some guy tell us, 'Oh, this is what the market research says.' I'm on the ground. I see it."
I had been trying to link with Benny Blanco and Ed Sheeran for years to find the right song we could all work on together and the moment I heard this one, I knew that it was the one. The timing was perfect and when we approached Justin, he was also in love with the song we all had written. I thought it would be interesting to incorporate another vocal and seeing she's family, I reached out to Mø and we decided to try our best to make something fresh and interesting as Major Lazer.
On July 1, 2016, Bieber began releasing teasers of the song, and added the song would come out later that month. On July 13, he wrote the release date was set for July 22. A low-quality version of the track leaked on Chinese radio station in July 2016, four days prior to its official release. After the latter incident, "Cold Water" was officially released on July 22, 2016. Moreover, it was sent to US contemporary hit radio on July 26, 2016.
Gucci Mane remix
The official remix of "Cold Water" features a newly additional verse and guest vocals by rapper Gucci Mane. It was first mentioned by both Mane and Bieber through social media. Diplo premiered the remix during Brunch Bounce at Elvis Guesthouse in New York City on July 22, 2016, the same day the original version was released. It was later released online on August 12, 2016. Mane's verse replaces Bieber's second verse, while the rest of the song remains the same as the original version. This remix hasn't been released on iTunes yet.
Composition
"Cold Water", a mid-tempo song, includes dancehall and Euro club music influences, while featuring "vibrant electronic chords and coastal beats [with] a hook-heavy pop influence" and acoustic guitars. Jacob Stolworthy of The Independent noted similarities between the song and Bieber's "Love Yourself", which was also written by Bieber, Blanco and Sheeran.
The song is written in the key of A major with a common time tempo of 93 beats per minute. The vocals span from E3 to G#5 in the song with a chord progression of F#m – A – C#m – D.
Critical reception
Newsweek's Tufayel Ahmed and Digital Spy's Megan Davies called it a future summer hit. Raisa Bruner of Time shared the same opinion, explaining: "This is the kind of jam you want to play as you road trip with the windows down; the kind of catchy slow-burn that gives you feels but will also get you going at a dance party." Jezebel deemed it "perfect for a lazy summer day with your friends". Anna Gaca of Spin described it as a "copacetic electronic ballad".
The New York Times's Jon Caramanica was less enthusiastic towards the song, writing: Bieber's earlier collaborations with Diplo (and also Skrillex) worked because of the frisson of the young pop star getting tugged onto the producers’ turf. But with 'Cold Water', Mr. Bieber's new collaboration with Diplo's Major Lazer project — which also includes an appearance by the singer MØ — the gravity pulls in the other direction." Calling the song "tepid", he concluded "the return, near the song's end, of the flute-that's-not-actually-a-flute that was such a radical injection the last time around, here feels like an act of desperation."
Billboard ranked "Cold Water" at number 56 on their on their "Billboard's 100 Best Pop Songs of 2016" list.
Commercial performance
In the United States, "Cold Water" debuted at number two, behind Sia's "Cheap Thrills", on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Bieber's third number-two debut on the chart, passing Mariah Carey's record to become the artist with the most number-two debuts; he also leads with the most top-two debuts at five. Additionally, "Cold Water" becomes the second top 10 single and highest-charting single for both Major Lazer and MØ in the United States, as well as Bieber's eleventh top 10 single. The song went up and down in the top 5 back to number two, while The Chainsmokers and Halsey's "Closer" dethroned Sia's "Cheap Thrills". The single opened at No. 1 on Digital Songs with 169,000 downloads, becoming Major Lazer and MØ's first, and Bieber's fifth, leader on the chart and their biggest sales week to date. It also debuted atop the Streaming Songs and On-Demand Songs charts.
In the United Kingdom, "Cold Water" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, on the issue dated July 29, 2016, with 102,000 combined sales, which included 5.56 million streams and 47,000 downloads. By debuting at number one, it ended a fifteen-week run at the top of the chart by Drake's "One Dance" and was the second song to debut at number one in 2016, after "Pillowtalk" by Zayn Malik in February. Additionally, the song became Major Lazer and MØ's first number-one single and Bieber's fourth. It also marks the first time two Danish acts have reached number one in the same year (with the other being Lukas Graham's "7 Years"). On the ARIA Singles Chart, "Cold Water" also debuted at number one, giving Major Lazer their second number-one single in Australia.