Britney Spears and Elton John have released the video counterpart to “Hold Me Closer,” a colorful, nearly four-minute music video full of interpretive dance numbers. However, it does not include appearances from Spears or John.
The music video was directed by Tanu Muino, who also helmed Harry Styles’ “As It Was” and Lil Nas X’s “Montero,” along with several other top visual treatments to come out of pop music in the past two years.
The music video starts off in Mexico City, with dancers dressed in vibrant blue and yellow garbs who move seamlessly as a reflection of “human embrace, beautifully capturingan immeasurable feeling of intimacy so missing from the world through the turmoil and chaos of recent times,” as it states in the video’s official press release.
“Going into this video, I knew there would be a lot of emotional expectations the audience and fans would have,” added Muino. “With this responsibility, I had to do something different and unexpected. The visuals had to be different. The dance had to be forward-thinking to raise eyebrows and make Elton and Britney proud.”
Muino continues, “This was an emotional one for me as I grew up with Britney. After seeing ‘Slave 4 You,’ I decided that I wanted to become a video director. Elton John is an icon that I and the world grew up listening to.”
“Hold Me Closer” was released on Aug. 25 and is a reimagined take on John’s “Tiny Dancer,” with Spears’ unmistakable and breezy dance-pop vocals. It marked Spears’ first release in six years amid a drawn-out battle over her conservatorship.
On the week of its release, Spears tweeted that she was “overwhelmed” by the prospect, but was honored to be singing beside “one of the most classic men of our time.”
Okie dokie … my first song in 6 years
