Acclaimed singer/songwriter Matteo Bocelli launches 2022 with an uplifting new single and video – Close. His warm, emotional tenor shines on the anthemic track, with Bocelli declaring, “it feels like heaven when I hold ya/so I will never let you go/and when the world’s too much to shoulder/just keep me close close close close.” Listen to Close HERE, out now via Capitol Records.
He shot the accompanying video at Italy’s Arena di Verona, a 2,000-year-old Roman amphitheater that, in recent times, has hosted performances by such artists as Paul McCartney, One Direction and Maria Callas. Aerial views of the ancient venue heighten the song’s positive message and timeless quality as Bocelli is seen performing with his band and exploring the nearby streets. View HERE.
“I had the pleasure of writing Close with Stuart Crichton and Wrabel this past year. This was such a fun song to write – I love the upbeat tempo and vibrant melody,” explains Matteo Bocelli. “I hope it brings some happiness and maybe even the urge to let loose and dance a little bit, just as it does for me! After enduring so much time apart from friends and family over the last couple of years, I would love for this song to become a hymn of hope.”
Bocelli, who is graduating at the Conservatory of Lucca in Tuscany, began learning piano at age six. At 18, he made his stage debut, singing Verdi at the Rome Colosseum. Much of the world first heard Matteo’s mellifluous vocals and textured piano playing on 2018’s Fall on Me, the English/Italian duet he co-wrote for Andrea Bocelli’s chart-topping Sì album. The song, which went on to soundtrack Disney’s The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, has attained over 300 million combined global streams.
