The American DJ duo consisting of Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall have been on fire the past couple of years. The Chainsmoker's 2014 single “#Selfie” reached the number 16 spot on the US charts, while their single “Roses” reached the #6 spot and “Don't Let Me Down” reached the #3 spot.
For their latest song “Closer,” The Chainsmokers brought on the 21-year-old singer from New Jersey named Halsey.
“If you had asked us a year ago who our #1 ideal collaboration would be with, you guessed it, it would be Halsey, wrote Alex Pall. “She is so authentic, talented and real and connected to her fans, she is truly a rare one of a kind artists and to be doing this track with her is so SICK!”
During our interview with The Chainsmokers, Alex revealed just how they came up with the idea for “Closer.”
“We always thought what the hell are we going to talk about that anyone finds remotely interesting.” The duo then began to think about all of the bands and artists that inspired them including that of Blink 182 and Dashboard Confessionals. During a long drunken night in the back of their tour bus, The Chainsmokers were jamming out to the old music that they used to love as teenagers and that's when they “got really inspired” for this song.
“The next day Drew had the idea of writing a song about fucking your ex and then immediately regretting it, as you remember all the reasons why you broke up in the first place. We wanted to write it though like a blink song or sublime, using all this millennial references and keeping it fun.”
The Chainsmokers then proceeded to finish a majority of the song in two days “and because the song was written and produced by us, and felt really personal we thought it would be a great time to sing on our first song.”
In addition to Alex and Andrew writing the song, Alex said that their buddy Shaun Frank also helped them create it. He “was excellent at vocal processing and he helped cut Drew's vocal.”
Just before Coachella 2016, The Chainsmokers finished the track and decided to debut it during their set. The rest is history in the making.
Listen to The Chainsmokers & Halsey's “Closer” below:
