"Cold Water" is a song by Americanelectronic dance music production groupMajor Lazer, featuring vocals from Canadian singerJustin Bieber and Danish singerMØ. The song was released on July 22, 2016, as the lead single from their debut greatest hits album,Major Lazer Essentials. It became Major Lazer's third collaboration with MØ after "Lean On" and "Lost".
"Cold Water" peaked at number one on theUK Singles Chart and number two on the USBillboard Hot 100. The song also reached number one in Australia, Austria, Belgium (Wallonia), Brazil, Canada, Finland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland; as well as the top 10 in Belgium (Flanders), Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Mexico, Scotland, South Africa and Spain.
"Cold Water" was a weird one because I didn’t even know that song existed. It was a song I must have half-written somewhere at a time where I was writing a lot of songs and I did it at Benny Blanco’s house and then I got an email from Diplo just being like, "Yo! That 'Cold Water' song is dope! Can I have it?" And I was like, "I have no idea what you’re talking about," so I just didn’t reply. And then he emailed and was like, "Yo, Justin [Bieber] wants to hop on the 'Cold Water' song. Is that cool?" And I’m just like, "What are you talking about?"... And then the song came out and it was number one and I was like "Oh, that song!" I remember doing it, but it was really, really slow. I remember hearing it and being like "That kind of sounds like me. Oh wait, it was me."
The day before Diplo arrived inNew York City in May 2016, he was "more than a little surprised" when Justin Bieber sent a message onTwitter about the track, "Cold Water", asking when it would be coming out. "That was not planned at all," Diplo said. According to Diplo, the song wasn't really done, when Bieber already expressed his excitement. "It's actually very real. Twitter is the only reason I know he's excited about the song. I don't have his number, so he Twitters at me," Diplo added.[3] On May 30, Diplo announced Major Lazer's collaboration with Bieber and MØ. At the time, he did not give a specific release date, only mentioning it would be released "in a couple of weeks" and that it would premiere throughBeats 1.[4]
You can tell if something’s authentic or not… I felt like [MØ] was so ambiguous, having grown up singing pop and punk… Her word choice and her metaphors are just so foreign from American songwriters who tend to overuse the same phrases.
— Diplo's reply to a question, which said: "Why did Major Lazer ask MØ to be on the song?"[5]
The song initially started a project, which eventually built to Major Lazer's fourth studio album's January 2017 release. "It's complicated because we just want to do itindie," described Diplo of "Cold Water." "And convincing Bieber's marketing crew to do that is hard. We don't need to have some guy tell us, 'Oh, this is what the market research says.' I'm on the ground. I see it."[3]
I had been trying to link with Benny Blanco and Ed Sheeran for years to find the right song we could all work on together and the moment I heard this one, I knew that it was the one. The timing was perfect and when we approached Justin, he was also in love with the song we all had written. I thought it would be interesting to incorporate another vocal and seeing she's family, I reached out to Mø and we decided to try our best to make something fresh and interesting as Major Lazer.
On July 1, 2016, Bieber began releasing teasers of the song, and added the song would come out later that month.[7] On July 13, he wrote the release date was set for July 22. A low-quality version of the track leaked on Chinese radio station in July 2016, four days prior to its official release.[8] After the latter incident, "Cold Water" was officially released on July 22, 2016. Moreover, it was sent to USTop 40 radio on July 26, 2016.[9]
The official remix of "Cold Water" features a newly additional verse and replaces Bieber's second verse and the first half of Bieber's second pre-chorus by rapperGucci Mane. It was first mentioned by both Bieber and Mane through social media. Diplo premiered the remix during Brunch Bounce at Elvis Guesthouse in New York City on July 22, 2016, the same day the original version was released.[10] It was later released online on August 12, 2016. Mane's verse replaces Bieber's second verse and the first half of Bieber's second pre-chorus, while the rest of the song remains the same as the original version.[11]
"Cold Water", a mid-tempo song, includesdancehall andEuro club music influences,[12][13][14] while featuring "vibrant electronic chords and coastal beats [with] a hook-heavy pop influence"[15] and acoustic guitars.[16] Jacob Stolworthy ofThe Independent noted similarities between the song and Bieber's "Love Yourself", which was also written by Bieber, Blanco and Sheeran.[17]
The song is written in the key ofA major with acommon time tempo of 93beats per minute. The vocals span from E3 to G#5 in the song with a chord progression of F♯m – A – C♯m – D.[18]
"Cold Water" received positive reviews from music critics.Newsweek's Tufayel Ahmed andDigital Spy's Megan Davies called it a future summer hit.[13][19] Raisa Bruner ofTime shared the same opinion, explaining: "This is the kind of jam you want to play as you road trip with the windows down; the kind of catchy slow-burn that gives you feels but will also get you going at a dance party."[20]Jezebel deemed it "perfect for a lazy summer day with your friends".[21] Anna Gaca ofSpin described it as a "copacetic electronic ballad".[22]
The New York Times's Jon Caramanica was less enthusiastic towards the song, writing: "Bieber's earlier collaborations with Diplo (and also Skrillex) worked because of the frisson of the young pop star getting tugged onto the producers’ turf. But with 'Cold Water', Mr. Bieber's new collaboration with Diplo's Major Lazer project — which also includes an appearance by the singer MØ — the gravity pulls in the other direction." Calling the song "tepid", he concluded: "The return, near the song's end, of the flute-that's-not-actually-a-flute that was such a radical injection the last time around, here feels like an act of desperation."[23]
Billboard ranked "Cold Water" at number 56 on their "Billboard's 100 Best Pop Songs of 2016" list.[24]
In the United States, "Cold Water" debuted at number two, behindSia's "Cheap Thrills", on theBillboard Hot 100 on the chart dating August 13, 2016, becoming Bieber's third number-two debut on the chart, passingMariah Carey's record to become the artist with the most number-two debuts; he also leads with the most top-two debuts at five. Additionally, "Cold Water" becomes the second top 10 single and highest-charting single for both Major Lazer and MØ in the United States, as well as Bieber's eleventh top 10 single. The song went up and down in the top 5 back to number two, whileThe Chainsmokers' "Closer" featuringHalsey dethroned Sia's "Cheap Thrills". The single opened at number one onDigital Songs with 169,000 downloads, becoming Major Lazer and MØ's first, and Bieber's fifth, leader on the chart and their biggest sales week to date. It also debuted atop theStreaming Songs and On-Demand Songs charts.[25]
In the United Kingdom, "Cold Water" debuted at number one on theUK Singles Chart, on the issue dated July 29, 2016, with 102,000 combined sales, which included 5.56 million streams and 47,000 downloads. By debuting at number one, it ended a fifteen-week run at the top of the chart byDrake's "One Dance" and was the second song to debut at number one in 2016, after "Pillowtalk" byZayn Malik in February. Additionally, the song became Major Lazer andMØ's first number-one single and Bieber's fourth. It also marks the first time two Danish acts have reached number one in the same year (with the other beingLukas Graham's "7 Years").[26] On theARIA Singles Chart, "Cold Water" also debuted at number one, giving Major Lazer their second number-one single in Australia.[27]
^Billboard Staff (October 19, 2023)."The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List".Billboard. RetrievedFebruary 11, 2024....Bieber and Diplo linked back up for Major Lazer's "Cold Water," a Euro-dance thumper...
^Lowe, Zane (July 25, 2016)."Interview with Diplo".iTunes. Apple Inc. Archived fromthe original on September 24, 2016.Zane talks to Diplo about the new Major Lazer song "Cold Water" feat. Justin Bieber & MØ, their new album and what we can expect in the future.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 39. týden 2016 in the date selector. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 31. týden 2016 in the date selector. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: insert 201639 into search. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201631 into search. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
