2 September 2016
It throws a wee bit more trap into the pot, but otherwise ‘Closer’ is yet another mid-’10s sad-boy trop-house number one. It topped the US charts for twelve weeks and the Irish charts for six, so the good folk of 2016 clearly couldn’t get enough of that sound and vibe.
Halsey gets a lot of snark for her cursive singing style, but I’m cool with it. In fact, her urgent, yearning delivery of the relationship drama here is the best thing about ‘Closer’, on its own merits and as a counterpoint to the moping vocals of Chainsmoker Andrew Taggart. Far more irritating to my ears are how the nagging chorus melody is repeated to death both vocally and electronically, plus the clunky chorus lyrics about someone in Boulder and driving a Rover purely to sweat some rhymes for “older” and “closer”. Maybe this was put to the top of the charts by the Rover drivers among you, finally feeling seen and sexy.
