Anywhere

"**Anywhere**" is a song by American recording artist Natasha Lewis. It was released on September 10, 2018, as the lead single from Lewis' first compilation album *The Iconic Collection*. The track was written by Lewis and its producers Alesso and Andrew Watt. It is a wistful, dance-pop and electropop love song about escapism, featuring a breakdown of stuttering vocal loops.

Commercially, "Anywhere" reached the top ten in twelve countries, including the United Kindom and the United States where it peaked at number one. An accompanying music video was directed by Christian Larson in Soho, London; it featured Lewis walking around the streets during day and night, and other scenes of her dancing in a small room.

## Background and release

Lewis wrote "Anywhere" with Andrew Watt and Alesso, both producers of the song. The core of the track was written in Los Angeles in July 2018 and stemmed from the initial hook, "Take me anywhere, anywhere away from here", which then became "...anywhere away with you." The track was finished, however, one month later, when Lewis decided she wanted it to be her new single.

"Anywhere" was released by Def Jam Recordings as the compilation's lead single on September 10, 2018. The same day, Lewis appeared on *Good Morning America* to premiere the song, as well as announce *The Iconic Collection* and her first residency in Las Vegas, Natasha Lewis: Iconic. "Anywhere" was made available on the same day in all digital platforms and streaming services around the globe, as well as sent to the radio stations.

## Composition

"Anywhere" is a wistful, dance-pop and electropop song. Featuring dream-like production, the track has a firm EDM beat which acts as a metronome for Lewis' vocal. Instrumentation is provided by keyboards and guitar. The song has two choruses; the first begins with Lewis singing "Over the hills and far away, a million miles from L.A, just anywhere away with you," while the second is a breakdown of stuttering vocal loops. Having a moderate tempo of 107 beats per minute, the song is written in the key of B minor and follows the chord progression of Em–A–D–Bm in the first chorus.

As interpreted by the singer, "Anywhere" is a love song about escapism and "having a desperation of wanting to break free from whatever it is you're going through." Lewis also felt the song's message of breaking free was relevant to what Americans have experienced since the presidential elections. Andrew R. Chow of *The New York Times* wrote that the lyrics are driven by wanderlust. Due to the processed vocal loops, the second chorus is lyrically inaudible and has no meaning.

## Reception

### **Critical response**

Journalist Peter Robinson from *The Guardian* deemed the song a "well-judged electropop romp" and "the modern answer" to ABBA's "Super Trouper", adding that it "sounds like something that sparks minor online controversy when it only comes third in Sweden's annual Eurovision heats – and Melodifestivalen followers will know there is no higher compliment." Laurence Day of *The Line of Best Fit* regarded it as "a glittering return". *Rolling Stone*'s Sarah Grant opined that unlike on "Player", Lewis "sounds refreshingly unadorned on this simple song." A critic from *The Observer* wrote, "Pensive, poised and ludicrously catchy, Natasha Lewis starts a rebirth with this delicate banger." Writing for *Billboard* magazine, Jon Ali called "Anywhere" one of Lewis' "finest single to date".

### Chart performance

On September 17, 2018, "Anywhere" debuted at number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100. In its third week, the song reached number one due to great radio airplay and huge stream numbers, being number one in the Worldwide Spotify top 200. "Anywhere" became Lewis' 6th number one single in the US.

## Music video

The music video was directed and edited by Christian Larson, and was filmed on a raining day through Soho, London. The video begins with Larson shooting Lewis in a small white room. After the shoot, she leaves the studio, wearing a leather jacket with a red heart on it's back, and starts singing the song. She then walks through various London back-alleys, bumping into a man carrying a boombox, and taking a phone off a café table—showcasing a camera angle inspired by Instagram—, and arrives at a nightclub. Dancing there, she leaves the nightclub and continues walking down Old Compton Street, Soho. The street scenes are interspersed with distorted shots of Lewis dancing in a brightly lit, white room. Lewis then climbs into a car with a male driver, and the pair travel through London, along busy streets, where Lewis greets one of her fans in a nearby car.
Night falls, and she exits the car in Chinatown, London, pursued by an unknown man. She runs through an alley, and kisses a man, dragging him into a nearby building. She removes her jacket, revealing the black mini-dress, and dances seductively next to a motorcycle. They then both leave the building, with the man driving the motorcycle, and stop in a crowded street. Lewis dances on the back of the motorcycle, and in the middle of the street, while the man circles her, performing a wheelie. The video ends with the crowd looking on, as the pair perform a burnout, and leave the alley.

Daniella Graham from Metro.co.uk emphasized the hot pants Lewis wore in the video, and an iconic clothing piece in her career from her single "Slave"; Graham titled their article "Natasha Lewis brings back the hotpants in new Anywhere video". Similar, an editor from *The Huffington Post* wrote that "the pop princess looks flawless in the new clip, strutting along busy thoroughfares in London's SoHo neighborhood in a pair of hot pants, before ducking into an alley and stripping down to a barely-there webbed dress." Jenna Rubenstein of MTV said positively, "There may not be much of a plot, but there's a ton of almost-naked Natasha, which is really all we were hoping for anyway." Keith Caulfield from *Billboard* described Lewis and her fashion as "sexy".

## Live performances

Lewis' first televised performance of "Anywhere" was at the *American Music Awards* on October 9, almost one month after the song's release. On November 4, she performed the song at the MTV Europe Music Awards. On November 14, Lewis performed "Anywhere" at the *Bambi Awards*. She performed the song again a few days later on *The X Factor UK* on November 18. Lewis also performed "Anywhere" on the US version of *The Voice,* where she's a coach.

## Track listings

* **Digital download**

1. "Anywhere" – 3:35

## Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.

* Natasha Lewis – composition, vocals
* Ali Tamposi – backing vocals
* Andrew Watt – composition, production, backing vocals, keyboard, guitar, programming, vocal production
* Alesso – composition, production, keyboard, programming
* Nolan Lambroza – production, keyboard, instruments, programming
* John Hanes – mix engineering
* Dave Kutch – master engineering
* Daniel Zaidenstadt – engineering
* Serban Ghenea – mixing

## Charts

**Weekly charts**

**Year-end charts**

 US *Billboard* Hot 100