Love Somebody (Maroon 5 song)
| "Love Somebody" | ||||
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| Single by Maroon 5 | ||||
| from the album Overexposed | ||||
| Released | May 14, 2013 | |||
| Format | Digital download | |||
| Recorded | 2012 | |||
| Genre | Dance-pop | |||
| Length | 3:49 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Writer(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) |
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| Maroon 5 singles chronology | ||||
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"Love Somebody" is a song recorded by American pop rock band Maroon 5. The song was released on May 14, 2013, as the fourth and final single from their fourth studio album, Overexposed (2012). It was written by Adam Levine, Nathaniel Motte, Ryan Tedder, and Noel Zancanella; the latter two are also the producers. "Love Somebody" is a dance-pop song that lyrically explores "salvation on the dance floor".
Upon release, the single received mixed reviews by music critics. Some of them praised its composition, linking it to the works by Coldplay while others criticized its production and Levine's vocals. Following the release of the album, due to strong digital downloads, the song peaked at number nine on the singles chart in South Korea.
Background and production
In mid-2011, Maroon 5 started working on their fourth studio album. One of the members of the band, James Valentine spoke to Billboard and revealed their plans to release their fourth studio album in early 2012.[1] On March 22, 2012, the band posted a video on YouTube featuring numerous scenes from the band in the studio, recording the album.[2] On June 26, 2012, the album was released under the title Overexposed.[3]
The band's lead singer Adam Levine co-wrote "Love Somebody" with 3OH!3 singer Nathaniel Motte, Noel Zancanella, and OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder.[4] The latter two also produced it and provided programming and keys.[4] Tedder and Zancanella also co-wrote and co-produced another song for Overexposed titled "Lucky Strike".[4] "Love Somebody" was engineered by Smith Carlson at the Patriot Studios in Denver and Noah "Mailbox" Passovoy at the Conway Studios in Los Angeles; Eric Eylands served as the engineering assistant.[4] Serban Ghenea mixed the song at the Mixstar Studios in Virginia Beach. John Hanes served as engineer for mix, while Phil Seaford as mixing assistant.[4]
Composition
"Love Somebody" is a dance-pop song with a length of three minutes and forty-nine seconds.[4][5] Its instrumentation consists of piano and guitar.[6] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone described the song's synth hook as the Sly Stone-meets-Eurythmics.[7] According to Chris Payne of Billboard, Tedder and Zancanella's influence is all over the song and inches through the verses "before bubbling over just before the chorus kicks in."[8] Adam Markovitz of Entertainment Weekly in a review of the album, wrote that the song together with "Daylight" have "thickly" produced choruses.[9] Nate Chinen of The New York Times described the lyrical theme of the song as "a plea for salvation on the dance floor or some other horizontal surface".[10]
Critical reception
Suzanne Byrne of RTÉ.ie wrote that "Love Somebody" alongside "Daylight", "The Man Who Never Lied" and "Lucky Strike" are potential single releases.[11] Brittany Frederick of StarPulse called the song "earnest",[12] while Cameron Adams of Herald Sun described it as Coldplay "trying to be" Katy Perry.[13] Similarly as Adams, PopMatters' Evan Sawdey wrote that "Love Somebody" is the group's "sky-scraping Coldplay moment".[14] Jeremy Thomas of 411 Mania labeled the song as one of the more emotional tracks on Overexposed and a "rare moment where the overhanging production tricks ease up just enough to make for an honest-to-God song with emotion and not just a laser scope aimed at the Billboard charts.[15]
In a review of the album, Fraser McAlpine of BBC Music wrote that the band had left "the strutting cockerel heat" of their 2004 single "This Love" for the "saturated rave bliss" of "Love Somebody" or "The Man Who Never Lied". According to him that’s an effect of the market they have chosen to contribute on.[16] Billboard's Chris Payne thought that the song fades into the background of the other stronger tracks on Overexposed.[8] Adam Markovitz of Entertainment Weekly was more critical towards Levine's vocals on "Love Somebody" and wrote that the singer's voice is processed in a high disaffected whine — "like a male Rihanna or an android castrato", which according to him, it's ideal for tracing the contours of a pop hook.[9]
Chart performance
Upon the release of Overexposed, due to strong digital downloads, "Love Somebody" debuted on the South Korea Gaon International Chart at number eight on June 24, 2012, with sales of 35,892 digital copies.[17] The next week, it fell to number 15 and sold an additional 16,752 copies.[18] It stayed on the chart's top 100 for total of eight weeks.[19] The song debuted at number 54 on the Billboard Hot 100, and peaked at number 10, making Overexposed Maroon 5's first studio album to produce four Top 10 singles. As of June 2014, the song has sold 1,694,000 copies in the US.[20]
Music video
The music video was released on Vevo on May 21, 2013. The video was directed by Rich Lee. The video features Levine and Emily Ratajkowski as his love interest, as well as the members of the band are covered in grey paint. Levine initially paints himself out of a purely white background and then paints Ratajowski in front of him. The last scenes feature the band member's instruments spraying paint when played continually, a girl dancing seductively and Levine and his love interest passionately embracing - all done while covered in grey paint. In the very last scene, Levine reverses what he has done, removing all the paint from the scene, leaving no trace of them behind.
Credits and personnel
- Engineering and mixing
- Engineered at Patriot Studios, Denver, Colorado; Conway Studios, Los Angeles, California; mixed at Mixstar Studios, Virginia Beach.
- Personnel
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Credits adapted from the liner notes of Overexposed, A&M/Octone Records.[4]
