Strange (Celeste song)

Last updated

Celeste's ability to explore an event that is so distressing to access her own past and personal experience of loss showcase a side of Celeste that has been previously visible in her previous work. Celeste has established herself as an artist who can mould and bring out authenticity and passion with fluency and maturity that not many artists can do so quickly in their careers,

Idolator ranked the song at number 34 on their list of The 75 Best Pop Songs Of 2019. [13] Apple Music also listed it as one of The 100 Best Songs of 2019. [14]

Music video

The music video for "Strange" was shot in Bulgaria in October 2019, [15] and released on 7 November 2019. [4] Celeste told Dork that the video "begins at the end and comes full circle, representing the reckless behaviours which can lead you from being lovers to strangers." [15] A French lyric video illustrated by Toby Calo was released on Celeste's social media platforms on Christmas Day 2019. [16] [17]

Live performances

Celeste made her late night television debut when she performed the song on Later... with Jools Holland in October 2019. [18] [19] Following her performance of "Strange" at the 2020 Brit Awards, Celeste saw interest from other big names in the pop music industry who attended the ceremony such as Billie Eilish, [20] Camilla Cabello, [21] Finneas, [22] and Stormzy. [23] She has also made her American television debut with the song on The Late Late Show with James Corden , [24] as well as her French television debut with the song on C à vous. [25]

Uses in other media

The episode "Make Rebecca Great Again" of the Apple TV show Ted Lasso featured "Strange" played over the last several minutes extending into the end credits. [26]

The episode "The Duke and I" of the Netflix show Bridgerton featured a classical cover of "Strange". [27]

The final episode of the first season of another Netflix show by the name of Sex/Life , entitled “This Must Be the Place”, also featured the song.

The song was also used in season 2, episode 6 entitled "My Druthers" of the popular Netflix series Outer Banks as the episode drew to a close. As a result, the song received a viral resurgence on TikTok and other social media sites, with more than 192.4K videos created on TikTok as of December 11, 2022. [28]

In 2024 the song was used in Netflix tv series "Nobody Wants This" season 1, episode 10 (season finale). [29]

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal: [2]

Charts

"Strange"
Strange - Celeste.jpg
Cover for the studio version
Single by Celeste
from the album Not Your Muse
Released4 September 2019
Genre Soul [1]
Length3:20 (studio version)
4:15 (album version)
5:03 (live version)
Label Polydor
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Jamie Hartman
Celestesingles chronology
"Coco Blood"
(2019)
"Strange"
(2019)
"Stop This Flame"
(2020)
Music video
"Strange" on YouTube
Chart performance for "Strange"
Chart (2019–2021)Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [30] 47
Belgium Airplay (Ultratop Flanders) [30] 39
Belgium Urban (Ultratop Flanders) [30] 12
Ireland (IRMA) [31] 61
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ) [32] 23
Scotland (OCC) [33] 68
UK Singles (OCC) [34] 82

Certifications

Certifications for "Strange"
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) [35] Gold20,000
New Zealand (RMNZ) [36] Gold15,000
United Kingdom (BPI) [37] Gold400,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

RegionDateFormatVersionLabel
Various4 September 2019Airplay, CD, digital download, streaming Edited version Universal Music Group, Polydor
20 September 2019Digital download, streamingAcoustic

References

  1. Rogers, Kieran (14 November 2019). "'Strange' is a thoughtful piece of soul balladry from Celeste". Clout. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 "Strange (Edit) by Celeste: Credits". Tidal . Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  3. Strange (Live) - Single by Celeste, Apple Music , retrieved 23 December 2019
  4. 1 2 Celeste - Strange (Official Video), YouTube, 7 November 2019, retrieved 23 December 2019
  5. Celete is BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year 2019. Facebook . BBC Music Introducing. 3 December 2019. Event occurs at 4:30. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  6. 1 2 Smyth, David (8 November 2019). "Celeste: 'After my father died, I had so much more drive to do music'". Evening Standard . Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  7. Arunarsirakul, Alissa (5 September 2019). "Celeste Is the Rising R&B Songstress Who Highly Values Intimacy in Her Songwriting". Ones To Watch. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  8. "Celeste – Strange: Lyrics", Genius , retrieved 23 December 2019
  9. 1 2 Wass, Mike (7 November 2019). "New Find: Celeste's Hauntingly Beautiful "Strange"". idolator . Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  10. Malachosky, Evan (6 September 2019). "Celeste: Strange". Cool Hunting. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  11. Murray, Robin (5 September 2019). "Celeste Shares Affecting New Single 'Strange'". Clash . Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  12. 1 2 Mankus, Modestas (7 September 2019). "Review: Celeste 'Strange'". Our Culture Mag . Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  13. Wass, Mike (30 December 2019). "The 75 Best Pop Songs Of 2019". idolator. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  14. "The 100 Best Songs of 2019" . Retrieved December 27, 2020 via Apple Music.
  15. 1 2 "Watch Celeste's new video for 'Strange'". Dork . 7 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  16. Celeste - Strange (Official French Lyric Video), YouTube, 25 December 2019, retrieved 25 December 2019
  17. "Celeste on Instagram: "une nouvelle vidéo lyrique pour étrange en français ~ Joyeux Nöel Illustration & Video by @tobycato"". Instagram . 25 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  18. "Celeste: Who is BBC Music Introducing's Artist of the Year?". BBC . 3 December 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  19. "BBC Two - Later... Live Tracks, Celeste - Strange (Later... With Jools Holland)". BBC. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  20. The Official Big Top 40 [@BigTop40] (24 February 2020). "So @billieeilish is just as big a fan of @celeste's music are we are" (Tweet) via Twitter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. "Camila Cabello Instagram Story: 24 February 2020" . Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  22. FINNEAS [@finneas] (25 February 2020). "Heard this song for the first time when performing at the brits and fell in love with it immediately" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  23. BRIT Awards [@BRITs] (19 February 2020). ""That's a perfect song." The moment @stormzy bumped into @celeste backstage at The #BRITs and told her exactly how much he loves 'Strange'" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  24. "Celeste: Strange". YouTube. The Late Late Show with James Corden. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  25. "C à vous la suite Intégrale : Timothée Chalamet, Florence Pugh, Saoirse Ronan et Celeste". France Télévisions (in French). C à vous . Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  26. "Ted Lasso" Make Rebecca Great Again (TV Episode 2020) - IMDb , retrieved 2021-02-27
  27. "Bridgerton Netflix Soundtrack Classical Pop Song Covers , retrieved 2021-03-19
  28. "Strange created by Celeste | Popular songs on TikTok , retrieved 2021-08-15
  29. https://www.what-song.com/Tvshow/101960/Nobody-Wants-This/e/203096
  30. 1 2 3 "Celeste [UK] - Strange". Ultratop . Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  31. "IRMA – Irish Charts". Irish Recorded Music Association . Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  32. "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 20 August 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  33. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  34. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  35. "Brazilian single certifications – Celeste – Strange" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil . Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  36. "New Zealand single certifications – Celeste – Strange". Radioscope. Retrieved 12 July 2025.Type Strange in the "Search:" field.
  37. "British single certifications – Celeste – Strange". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 12 July 2025.