"Feel So Close" Calvin Harris

After crafting Rihanna's biggest hit ever last fall, Scottish dance artist Calvin Harris takes a stab at solo stardom in the U.S. with "Feel So Close," an airy house track now racing up the charts. Though überproducers like David Guetta and Dr. Luke have turned the pop music scene into a veritable rave over the past few years, Harris brings something refreshingly different to the party on "Close." The song pulsates with the soaring synths we've come to expect, but its use of natural instruments—sparing piano chords on the verses, a killer guitar line on the chorus—grounds it in a sense of reality that feels bigger than the dance floor. And the ascendant melody is like a command of cosmic uplift, infecting the soul with positivity in a way that so many recent "it gets better" anthems have failed to do. In its softness and simplicity, "Close" is still powerfully effective—a joyful techno stimulus for adults. B+