Britney Spears and Elton John released the video counterpart to “Hold Me Closer,” a colorful nearly four-minute music video filled with interpretive dance numbers. However, this does not include appearances by 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,” as well as several other prominent visual treatments from pop music over the past two years. .
The clip begins in Mexico City, with dancers dressed in vibrant blue and yellow garments moving seamlessly as a reflection of “the human embrace, beautifully capturing an immeasurable sense of intimacy so absent from the world through the bustle and the chaos of recent times,” as stated in the video’s official press release.
“Going into this video, I knew there would be a lot of emotional expectation from the audience and the fans,” Muino added. “With this responsibility, I had to do something different and unexpected. The visuals had to be different. The dance had to be edgy to raise eyebrows and make Elton and Britney proud.
Muino continues: “It was an emotion for me because 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 with whom the world and I grew up listening.
“Hold Me Closer” was released on August 25 and is a reimagined version of John’s “Tiny Dancer,” featuring Spears’ unmistakable, airy dance-pop vocals. It marked Spears’ first exit in six years amid a drawn-out battle over her conservatorship.
The week of her release, Spears tweeted that she was “overwhelmed” by the prospect, but was honored to sing alongside “one of the most classic men of our time.”
Along with the arrival of the video, there will be three limited-edition collectible CD single formats of “Hold Me Closer” available for pre-order starting Tuesday and slated for release in November. Each of the three discs will feature different artwork; one with the original single cover and the other two with fan-voted artwork as the cover.
Additionally, each CD will contain a different track listing, all featuring the original song “Hold Me Closer”, with the second track varying between an extended version of a Joel Corry Remix or a Purple Disco Machine Remix of the single.