"These Days" | ||||||||
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Single by Take That | ||||||||
from the album III | ||||||||
Released | 14 November 2014 | |||||||
Recorded | 2014 | |||||||
Genre | Pop | |||||||
Length | 3:52 | |||||||
Label | Polydor | |||||||
Writer(s) |
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Producer(s) | Greg Kurstin | |||||||
Take That singles chronology | ||||||||
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"These Days" is a song by British pop group Take That. It was released through Polydor Records on 14 November 2014 as the lead single from their seventh studio album, III (2014). The song was written by Take That, Jamie Norton, and Ben Mark and produced by Greg Kurstin.
"These Days" was the first song to feature Take That as a trio following the departures of Jason Orange and Robbie Williams, and features all three members singing joint lead vocal. The song debuted at number one in the United Kingdom, becoming the group's 12th UK number one.
It became known early into the writing process that Jason Orange was unsure whether he would rejoin the band for the new single and album. Gary Barlow admitted that the band had "known for a while that Jay [Jason Orange] was like, 'I don't know if I'm doing this or not'" As time went on, Mark Owen stated that "we hit the point where we could do nothing else", and began writing music with Orange's blessing. The band then went to Los Angeles in May 2014 and locked themselves in a room "for two or three weeks and started to play with sounds"' resulting in a much more upbeat energetic song which later became 'These Days'. Take That later played Orange 'These Days' who "loved it".
The single received positive reviews upon its first airplay, with Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph calling it 'uplifting' and a 'fun and fuzzy comeback'. He concluded stating "There is enough hook-laden chutzpah about this comeback to suggest these unlikely survivors of British pop are about to triumph again. If you didn't actually know someone had left the band, you would never guess from listening to 'These Days', although there might just be a message to the deserter in the opening line: "I can see the future coming to you crying with a sadness in your eyes".
The Independent called 'These Days' "an upbeat and energetic dance track with the carpe diem theme rolled out by many an artist: “Tonight we gotta live for/ We gotta live for these days/ Tonight, tonight, we'll remember/ We'll remember these days.” There is also perhaps a sense of nostalgia in the song, as the originally five-strong band sings: “Take me back/ To where it all began.” They conclude that "the lyrics also express a desire to rejuvenate the sound of their heady Nineties heyday. All three - Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen - share vocal duties on the song, a nod to the sound that defined their early years and out-and-out feel-good pop”. Clickmusic described the single as "just as forward-thinking as anything on their last [album], but it's also full of nostalgia for Take That of the 1990s. Among the rippling pop melody and sprawling chorus, this is as much about their past as it is about their future. It's a nod to what they had before and it's full of hope for what lies ahead for them as a trio. As it stands, it's also one of their very best singles."