Lighter (Galantis, David Guetta and 5 Seconds of Summer song)

"Lighter" is a song by Swedish electronic artist Galantis, French DJ David Guetta and Australian pop rock band 5 Seconds of Summer. It was released on 1 March 2024, as a single from Galantis' upcoming fourth studio album, Rx, via Big Beat Records.^[2]

"Lighter"
Single by Galantis, David Guetta and 5 Seconds of Summer
from the album Rx
Released	1 March 2024 (2024-03-01)
Genre	Dance-pop[1]
Length	2:52
Label	Big Beat
Songwriter(s)	Bloodshy Henrik Jonback David Saint Fleur Aukoustics David Guetta Kyle Reynolds David Brook Benjamin Samama Embody Luke Hemmings Michael Clifford Calum Hood Ashton Irwin
Producer(s)	Bloodshy Jonback Fleur Aukoustics Guetta Misha K Embody Clifford
Galantis singles chronology
"One, Two & 3" (2024) "Lighter" (2024) "Dust" (2024)
David Guetta singles chronology
"All Night Long" (2024) "Lighter" (2024) "The Future Is Now" / "The Truth" (2024)
5 Seconds of Summer singles chronology
"Older" (2022) "Lighter" (2024)
Music video
"Lighter" on YouTube

Background

Speaking about the song, Christian Karlsson stated,

"'Lighter' is a special song because the creative momentum between myself, David and 5SOS aligned so well – we let the collaboration flow into a piece of music that feels emotional and timeless. Michael [Clifford] is such a music lover very much like me, and working closely with him on producing the live elements like strings, guitar and drums was very inspiring. And it's always great working with David, after the amazing response we had with 'Heartbreak Anthem' it's exciting to be putting out another big record together."^[3]

Composition

"Lighter" first came up when a writer of Karlsson's played him a raw recording of the track around two years ago. Though interested, Karlsson almost scrapped the track before finding David Guetta and 5 Seconds of Summer to help work on the song.^[1] According to guitarist Michael Clifford, the idea of the collaboration was brought up a year ago.^[1]

The track was written by Bloodshy, Henrik Jonback, David Saint Fleur, Aukoustics, David Guetta, Kyle Reynolds, David Brook, Benjamin Samama, Embody, Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford, Calum Hood and Ashton Irwin,^[4] while production was handled by Karlsson, Guetta, Clifford,^[1] Jonback, Fleur, Aukoustics, Misha K and Embody.^[4]

Critical reception

"Lighter" was met with positive reviews from music critics. Shannon Garner of EUPHORIA stated, "'Lighter' is a foray into dance music [...] incorporating their distinct styles, the dreamy track is produced in a way that ascends you into another reality with its breezy, danceable beats and infectious sing-along choruses."^[5] Hannah Gadd of Redbrick remarked, "The lyrics are on the simpler side, something which is unusual from 5SOS' recent music but works with this genre. The message is clear; the song details the comfort in which time spent with a lover can bring and thus feeling 'lighter'."^[6]

Personnel

Musicians Luke Hemmings – lead vocals, piano Michael Clifford – vocals, guitar Calum Hood – vocals Ashton Irwin – vocals Additional musicians Boerd – double bass Dan Trapp – drums Henrik Jonback – bass Aukoustics – bass, guitar, piano, backing vocals Benjamin Samama – piano, backing vocals David Brook – backing vocals Kyle Reynolds – backing vocals Vicky Sayles, Tove Lund, Paul Waltman, Patrik Swedrup, Lola Torrente, Oscar Treitler, Kristina Ebbersten, Fredrik Syberg, Daniel Migdal, Danial Shariati & Carl Vallin – violin Pelle Hansen, Filip Lundberg & Andreas Lavotha – cello Mikael Sjögren, James Opie, Erik Holm & Christopher Öhman – viola Stockholm Studio Orchestra – strings

Production Christian Karlsson – producer, mixing Henrik Jonback – producer David Saint Fleur – producer Aukoustics – producer Misha K – producer, mixing David Guetta – producer Embody – producer Michael Clifford – producer Cass Irvine – mastering Erik Arvinder – conductor, strings arrangement, strings recording engineer James Musshorn – engineering Willem Bleeker – strings recording engineer John Feldmann – drums recording engineer Lemon Blue – vocal recording engineer Juan Arguello – assistant vocal recording engineer

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for "Lighter" Chart (2024) Peak position Belarus Airplay (TopHit)[7] 49 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[8] 28 CIS Airplay (TopHit)[9] 34 Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100)[10] 2 Estonia Airplay (TopHit)[11] 29 Japan (Japan Hot Overseas)[12] 13 Latvia Airplay (LaIPA)[13] 19 Lithuania Airplay (TopHit)[14] 7 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[15] 32 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16] 78 New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[17] 7 Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[18] 17 Russia Airplay (TopHit)[19] 37 Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[20] 51 Spain Airplay (TopHit)[21] 95 Sweden Heatseaker (Sverigetopplistan)[22] 1 UK Singles (OCC)[23] 78 UK Dance (OCC)[24] 31 US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)[25] 9

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for "Lighter" Chart (2024) Position Belarus Airplay (TopHit)[26] 198 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[27] 66 Lithuania Airplay (TopHit)[28] 56 US Dance/Mix Show Airplay (Billboard)[29] 25