Background and composition
In May 2019,Garrix injured his ankle during his set at Omnia Nightclub in Las Vegas. [1] Following a medical examination,doctors determined that surgery would be necessary. After the operation,the Dutch producer received a visit from his regular collaborator Albin Nedler,and the two completed the writing of "Used to Love" together while Garrix was still in his hospital bed. [2]
After being discharged from the hospital,Dean Lewis travelled to Amsterdam,Netherlands,to finish writing the song that he had been co-writing remotely with Garrix. [3] In the studio,Lewis's voice was hoarse,as he had just finished a long tour. Since he served as both vocalist and guitarist on the track,the pair decided to begin by recording the guitar parts and to dedicate the second day to vocals,giving Lewis's voice time to recover. [4] [5] Because Lewis was unable to perform the guitar line of "Used to Love" to his satisfaction,a session guitarist was eventually brought in to record it. [6] To complement the song's instrumentation,Garrix enlisted Dutch multi-instrumentalist Frank van Essen to record all the string sections. Van Essen replaced the computer-generated layers with live recordings of first and second violins,viola,and other string instruments,which were later combined to create the texture of a full orchestra. [7] [8]
In total,Garrix and Lewis spent several weeks in an Amsterdam studio during the summer of 2019 to finalise the song. [9]
By the end of 2019,Garrix revealed the story of writing and recording "Used to Love" through the fourth season of The Martin Garrix Show,which documented the artists' studio sessions in Amsterdam and also showed their first meeting. [10] [11]
"Used to Love" was written by Martin Garrix (Martijn Garritsen),Dean Lewis,Albin Nedler and Kristoffer Fogelmark,with production handled by Garrix and co-production by Nedler. [12] With a running time of three minutes and 56 seconds, [13] it is an electronic dance music [14] [15] and future bass [16] song incorporating elements of pop music. [16] [17] According to the official sheet music published by Musicnotes.com,the song is written in common time of 4
4 with a tempo of 120 beats per minute in the key of E major,while Lewis's vocals range from C♯4 to B5. [18]
In early September 2019,during Garrix's fifth anniversary set at Lollapalooza Berlin,the Dutch music producer announced that the song would be released at the end of October 2019,stating:"This track was made during my break while I was recovering from my ankle injury. Dean and I are super excited to share it with the world!" [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]
Although no specific release date had been set at the time,it was reported a few days before the release that the song would come out on Halloween. [25]
The song was released on 31 October 2019 for digital download and streaming as a single in various countries by Stmpd Rcrds,under exclusive license to Epic Amsterdam,a division of Sony Music Entertainment Netherlands. [9] [13] To accompany the release,the official music video premiered on Garrix's YouTube channel the same day,featuring Garrix and Lewis playing piano and guitar,respectively. [14] [26]
Upon the release,Lewis explained:"Since my career began,collaborations never felt like something I saw myself pursuing. As a song writer,who also sings,the entire concept just felt foreign. Until I met Martin. We spent about a week together locked behind closed doors in Amsterdam working on a song,which thought might end up be sung by someone else. But as the track progressed is started to sound a lot like me,but also very Martin. It's a real collaboration with a guy who's now become a great friend". [27] [28]
Lewis also noted that the chorus of "Used to Love" was "one of the highest vocal lines and most challenging singles he has ever worked on in that regard". Several recordings were made to achieve the right vocal balance and pitch without straining his voice. [4] Garrix described the collaboration as an "amazing" experience and considered Lewis a "good friend and an exciting talent" with a "timeless" style and the ability to write "deeply personal lyrics". [14] [29]
An acoustic version of "Used to Love" was released on 14 February 2020 for digital download and streaming in various countries by Stmpd Rcrds,under exclusive license to Epic Amsterdam. [30] Speaking about the release,Garrix said:"Super excited to finally release the acoustic version of "Used to Love". Dean is such a talent and writes deeply personal lyrics,which will carry out even more beautifully in this acoustic version". [31] [32] Lewis added:"I spent a week with [Garrix] in Amsterdam working on making this version feel as emotional and real as we could". [31]
Reception
Critical reception
Farrell Sweeney of Dancing Astronaut highlighted the combination of an "energy-building violin line" with "acoustic elements",making the song "vocal-led by Lewis's impassioned vocals". He also noted that Garrix,by releasing this type of track,was moving away from a strong emphasis on electronic music in favor of a subtler production style enhanced by acoustic sounds. [27] Katie Bain of Billboard observed a tribute to American singer Bruce Springsteen in the song's lyrics,describing the song as swelling and compelling "in the same style as many of Springsteen's biggest and most grandiose hits" and characterizing Lewis's vocals as "soaring". [33] Phil Scilippa of EDM.com emphasized the song's optimistic vibe despite its "nostalgic and sad" lyrics,calling the track "a future bass inspired sound" with "an uplifting vivacity" thanks to Lewis's piano parts and vocals,which give a "bright and summery feeling". [14] Writing for Your EDM,Matthew Meadow noted that releasing this type of song on Halloween was "a bit of an odd choice". [34] In his first review,he stated that Lewis's voice "never really stands out from the production",which itself "never really reaches any sort of crescendo". He also described the track as "usual Garrix fare" and compared it to his previous releases such as "No Sleep" and "There for You",while the melody of "Used to Love" was found "non-intrusive" with "quaint vocal chops". [35]
The acoustic version received reviews from Dancing Astronaut and Your EDM. Rachel Narozniak of Dancing Astronaut described it as "an intimate alternative approach",featuring "poignant" piano chords that underscore the emotional quality of Lewis's voice. [36] Karlie Powell of Your EDM described the composition as "void of all builds and drops",consisting only of piano,vocals,and some strings,which allowed the song's storytelling to be more prominent. [37]
In its first week,"Used to Love" accumulated ten million streams across all music platforms, [38] and entered several European charts,including Ireland, [39] the Netherlands, [40] Sweden, [41] and Switzerland. [42] In Canada,the song debuted at number 92 on the Canadian Hot 100 dated 16 November 2019. [43] In Garrix's home country,the Netherlands,the song peaked at number four on the airplay chart, [40] and reached the top 10 of the Dutch Top 40, [44] spending twenty weeks or more on both the Dutch and Flemish charts. [a] In Lewis's home country,Australia,"Used to Love" debuted at number 83 on the ARIA Top 100 Singles Chart, [46] reaching the top 50 in the week of 25 November 2019. [47] The song earned gold certification from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) in less than three months,for selling more than 35,000 units or equivalent. [b] [48]
In the United States,"Used to Love" did not enter any all-genre Billboard charts,but appeared on several dance/electronic charts. On the main Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart,which combines sales,streaming and airplay data, [c] the song debuted at number 10 and remained on the chart for twenty weeks. [49] On other dance/electronic charts,which track a single type of data at a time, [d] it debuted at number three on the Dance Digital Song Sales, [50] peaked at number three on Dance Club Songs and reached number 16 on Dance/Mix Show Airplay. [51] [52]
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