The music video for Elton John and Britney Spears’ new joint single, “Hold Me Closer,” has been released, along with information about three CD single releases.
The video was shot in Mexico City, where the buildings are a riot of primary colors, and this is fully exploited in the clip. It follows several different sets of dancers as they perform different choreography that ultimately results in a variety of embraces and collisions. Tanu Muino, who has directed music videos for Lil Nas X, Harry Styles, Cardi B, Yungblud, Lizzo, and many others, was responsible for the film.
Muino, who grew up with Britney, admitted that the experience was “emotional” for him in a press release. As soon as I saw [the video for “I’m A Slave 4 U,” I knew] that I wanted to make music videos. When I think of a global cultural icon, my mind immediately goes to Elton John.
I knew that viewers and fans would be looking for a lot of emotional depth in this video before I even started shooting. This duty required me to take an unanticipated approach. We needed some fresh visuals. In order to impress Elton and Britney, the dance had to be innovative.
For this, we collaborated with the best contemporary choreographer working today, Jacob Jonas, and shot in and around all my favorite architectural locations in Mexico City. Everyone wanted to work with Elton John and be a part of his legacy, so it was easy to get the best dancers, crew, and access to some of the most secret locations in the world.
Check out the clip we’ve included below:
First released a month ago, “Hold Me Closer” is a cover of John’s earlier hits “Tiny Dancer” (1972), “The One” (1992), and “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” (1976). Britney Spears hadn’t released anything new in six years, and this was her first single since being released from her controversial 13-year conservatorship in 2017.
After rumors that they were “Secretly recording” a cover of John’s 1972 single “Tiny Dancer,” the collaboration was officially announced in early August. John sang over the track at a restaurant in Cannes a few days before its official release to the delight of the patrons.
The single will be released on three different collectible CDs today (September 27), each with its own artwork and set of songs. One will have a cover similar to the digital single release, with photos of a young Spears and John, and will include both the standard and extended versions of the song.
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For the remaining two CDs, the artwork was decided by popular vote. One, by James Hillier, depicts John at the piano with Spears as a model, while the other, by Vinni Amaro, is a time-warping reimagining of the original cover art. The song “Hold Me Closer” will be reworked by Purple Disco Machine for this CD, while it will be reworked by Joel Corry for Hillier’s. You can reserve copies of all three CDs right here.
Prior to this month, Spears stated that she is “traumatized” by her previous live performances and is therefore unlikely to ever perform live again. In the wake of a 22-minute voice memo she released at the end of August, in which she discussed the conservatorship’s end and the subsequent changes to her life, she decided to release a video version of the same message.