Elton John and Britney Spears have released a new song, “Hold Me Closer.” The duet is Spears’ first single in six years and her first music since being released from a conservatorship this past November.
News of the song started circulating last month after reports emerged that John and Spears had met at a Beverly Hills recording studio to lay down the track. “They’ve already played it for people at their record label, and everybody is freaking out,” an anonymous source told Page Six. “It is so good. They are saying this is going to be the song of the summer.”
“Hold Me Closer” was produced by Andrew Watt, and it’s a shimmery, disco-heavy reimagining of “Tiny Dancer” — the chorus stays true to “Tiny Dancer,” while its verses and melody recreate John’s 1992 song “The One.” It’s similar to what John did with “Cold Heart,” his 2021 single with Dua Lipa that referenced some of his past hits. Listen below.