Nearly 51 years after “Tiny Dancer” was released, Sir Elton John and Britney Spears released “Hold Me Closer” which was a reunion we didn’t know we needed! This collaboration between two legends of rock n roll and pop music was certainly an incredible surprise and has already been heavily praised by the media. “Hold Me Closer” already hit the Billboard Top 100 List this week. Not only is this another amazing hit from Elton himself but this is also an amazing accomplishment for Spear’s as well. This is Spears’ first song release in 6 years and her fans could not be more thrilled. Overall, I really enjoyed this collaboration and hope to see more from them in the future.

For the most part, this duet has had pretty positive reviews, but there are still people who dislike this collaboration between the two artists. Some reviewers are claiming that they would have loved to see Spears and Elton create a whole song instead of a cover.  I would argue that “Hold Me Closer” was the perfect song for remembering John’s classic while also welcoming Spears back into the music industry. This song was meant to be fun and reminiscent of the original song that was released so long ago. 

“Hold Me Closer” uses different aspects from both John and Spears’ work. The soft and classical piano undertones from Sir Elton along with the pop stars’ iconic upbeat music combine greatly together. Both Spears’ and John’s voices create such beautiful chemistry and the tempo of the song definitely really ties the whole thing together. Autotune was used pretty heavily in this song and it surprisingly worked really well. The autotuning of the song was supposed to make the song feel like a completely new piece of music rather than its 1971 counterpart. I really liked this decision because it made the song feel new while also creating a nostalgic aspect as well.

As we all know, Britney Spears hasn’t released in over 6 years due to her long conservatorship with her father. Many fans, including myself, were so happy to see Spears back in the studio making music again. “Hold Me Closer” was an amazing way for her to dip her toes back into making music. Spears definitely made the right decision by making her first song with the one and only Elton John. “Hold Me Closer” is supposed to be taken as a fun and feel-good song so it makes perfect sense for this to be Spears’ first music piece in over the last few years. I hope to see Spears continue to make more music and continue to show the world her awesome talent. 

What I really appreciated about “Hold Me Closer” was how it gave John’s 1971 hit “Tiny Dancer” a glow up rather than a whole new look. Both artists kept true to the original song while also creating something modern audiences could appreciate now. I was initially worried that this new rendition of one of the most classic Elton John songs out there wouldn’t live up to it but it really surprised me with how much I’d enjoyed it. Everything from the beat of the song to the unified voices of both John and Spears, this was truly an incredible song