Even before they landed one of the longest-running No. 1 hits at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 via a dazzling team-up with Halsey, The Chainsmokers knew that the key to running the pop game was collaboration. In the lead-up to “Closer,” they tested the waters with Rozes and Daya, and after, they’ve kept that flame burning with Coldplay and this year’s “Who Do You Love” with 5 Seconds of Summer.
As of Friday (May 31), they can officially add Bebe Rexha to that roster of superstar co-conspirators. Their joint song “Call You Mine,” though, is more a showcase for Rexha than anything else — and that’s good news. It yields a big-hearted, EDM-tinged power ballad complete with raging guitar lines and crisp production. It’s undeniable.
Last week, the ‘Smokers tweeted a sentiment perviously unconsidered that may, in fact, encapsulate their entire ethos. “Ed Sheeran writes the best songs for a wedding,” the message said. “We write great songs for divorces.” “Call You Mine,” with its dramatic structure, doesn’t quite fit with that statement — “And you said, ‘I never regretted the day that I called you mine’ / So I call you mine,” Rexha sings, suggesting a happy ending — but who knows what lies behind the inspiration.
Musically, it’s a prototypical ‘Smokers cut where big drops and airy piano abound. Drew Taggart has found great success singing lead despite not being the strongest vocalist, but here, he and partner Alex Pall (plus Andrew Watt, Steve Mac, and more big behind-the-scenes songwriting names) wisely cede the space to Rexha, who owns it. She likewise owns the accompanying video, which also dropped Friday (May 31), and which features her enacting vengeance and taking Taggart and Pall out, likely permanently, with some poison.
It’s all love, though, as they both showed on Twitter when the song dropped.
Rexha released her own solo song “Last Hurrah” in February, and the ‘Smokers are gearing up for their new project, World War Joy, sometime later this year. They hit the road with 5SOS in August.
Watch the video above, and catch it playing on mtvU and MTV Live on Friday.
