“Too Close” by Alex Clare

"Too Close" was the second single from Alex Clare's 2011 debut, The Lateness of the Hour, first released in the UK that April. Clare wrote it with Jim Duguid, and Major Lazer's Diplo produced it, with Ariel Rechtshaid co-producing and adding keyboards alongside Jamie Muhoberac.

The collision is the whole point: Clare's rough, soul-man voice pleading through the verses, then a bass drop that hits like a wrecking ball. Underneath, it's a breakup song about a guy who isn't ready to commit and wants to walk away without leaving wreckage. A Microsoft ad for Internet Explorer 9 is what finally broke it open, and from there it went to number one in Germany and Luxembourg and picked up a Brit Award nomination for Best British Single.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.