Justin Maki is out to rekindle a romantic spark with his alluring new single and colourful video Close To You — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
An upbeat funk-pop confection, Close To You finds Maki catching sight of a former lover in a bar, and playing the stare-look away game. The song begins with a guitar riff reminiscent of the iconic lick to Prince’s Kiss — which only seems fitting, since Maki spends the rest of the song trying to convince his intended to give him some of her extra time. His persuasion is lighthearted, playful, and punctuated by groove-inducing bass, lush guitars, saturated synths, and decidedly danceable beats. Raising the fun quotient, there’s even a moment in one of the final choruses where Maki playfully squawks like a teenage boy and then says “Oops.”
The song was written back in 2016, when Maki was at his grandparents’ house during a short trip home for a family celebration. “Being away from my hometown of St. Thomas, Ont., inspired me to dream of what it would be like to be on tour, and how that might take a toll on a romantic relationship,” he said. “I imagined a situation where I came back from a tour, only to stumble across a previous lover at a certain club in my university town of London, Ont.” Thinking of how she might notice him, but ignore him, “I imagined pursuing her and eventually catching her attention. I then imagined trying to convince her to pick up where we left off.”
The song purposely does not provide closure, but leaves the ending ambiguous and open to interpretation. “Generally, this is a song about unrequited love,” he shares, “which, probably everyone has experienced, but to me it means something more personal.”
Born in Japan and bred in Canada, Maki makes music carefully drawn from R&B, soul, funk, and jazz and packages it in an accessible pop format that blends Allen Stone, John Mayer, Bruno Mars and Robin Thicke. Watch Close To You above, hear more from Justin Maki below, and get close to him on his website, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
