Dusk Till Dawn (Zayn Song)
Composition
"Dusk Till Dawn" is a pop power ballad. Fact described the song as a "stadium ballad" adding that "instead of running away from his pop roots [Zayn] seems to be relaxing and re-embracing those pop beginnings".
Speaking of the song, Zayn said, "That's where I started and that's obviously still in there. I still like pop music, but it's about putting my own spin on it, making it me."
The song is in the key of B minor with a tempo of 90 beats per minute. The meter is common time. The harmonic progression is Bm7–G–D–F♯m7/C♯–Bm7–G–D–A/C♯. The vocals span two octaves, from D3 to D5.
Critical reception
"Dusk Till Dawn" received highly positive reviews from music critics. Hugh McIntyre of Forbes magazine said the song is as "epic as it needed to be considering the two powerhouses attached." He noted that it "features powerful vocals, high notes left and right and a vocal hook that is somehow impossible to sing along to, while still being memorable." McIntyre predicted it could be a potential Grammy Award nominee for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, but, in fact, the song's producer Greg Kurstin won Producer of the Year at the 2018 Grammy Awards for his work on "Dusk Till Dawn" along with several other songs.
Michael Cragg of The Guardian chose the song as "track of the week" and described it as "a towering piece of perfect pop." Rolling Stone's Elias Leight described the song as a "throbbing ballad" and said that the duet "leans close to her [Sia's] trademark style", adding that "Sia dials back her potent voice to harmonize better with Malik; she often handles the low end, while his singing flutters around in the falsetto range." MTV called it a "massive, cinematic duet" and concluded that it "starts off as a gorgeous, romantic mid-tempo and builds to a thrashing sing-along chorus that will echo around stadiums in no time."
Jordan Sargent, writing for Spin, said "Dusk Till Dawn" was "a step backwards" from ZAYN's previous single, "Still Got Time", commenting that the collaboration with Sia was "fairly predictable and mostly uninteresting".
Commercial reception
As of September 2017, "Dusk Till Dawn" had sold around 58,000 digital copies in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan. The track sold 28,561 downloads in the UK during its first week. By 5 October 2017, the song had sold around 65,000 copies in the United States. In Europe, "Dusk Till Dawn" topped the European Border Breakers chart on the week ending 27 October 2017, and held onto the number-one spot for months; it eventually dropped to number two in the week ending 26 January 2018.
Music video
Synopsis
Directed by Marc Webb, the accompanying music video for "Dusk Till Dawn" premiered on YouTube on 8 September 2017, receiving over 10 million views on its first day. It is Webb's first music video in seven years. The music video finds Zayn on the run from two different groups, after he makes a sly hand-off with his mysterious accomplice played by actress Jemima Kirke. Soon after a brief confrontation, Zayn outwits the law and escapes a pair of gangsters in an intense car chase and eventually lures both parties into a trap and drives off into the sunset with Kirke. Sia does not appear in the music video. As of May 2023, the video has over 2 billion views. The video was inspired by the movies Casino and Goodfellas. According to ZAYN, "It’s definitely a nod to a particular era of music videos. The early '90s, around that period, people really tried to make these epic, intense movies for their videos, Michael Jackson being a great example of that. I wanted to come back and give my fans something along those lines rather than just some blasé video."
Reception
Rolling Stone's Elias Leight wrote that "Jemima Kirke and Zayn Malik are a modern day Bonnie and Clyde in the new clip" for ZAYN's song. MTV's contributor praised the dramatic visuals and wrote the "Dusk Till Dawn video is a huge step up from his previous music videos and we can’t help but wonder if this is only Part One of the story." Al Horner of Fact described the video as "a Chinatown heist mini-movie crammed into five action-packed minutes." As of September 2023, the music video has received more than 2 billion views on YouTube.
Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
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Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA) | 4× Platinum | 280,000 |
| Austria (IFPI Austria) | Platinum | 30,000 |
| Belgium (BEA) | Platinum | 20,000 |
| Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) | 2× Diamond | 500,000 |
| Canada (Music Canada) | 4× Platinum | 320,000 |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark) | Platinum | 90,000 |
| France (SNEP) | Diamond | 233,333 |
| Germany (BVMI) | Platinum | 400,000 |
| Italy (FIMI) | 3× Platinum | 150,000 |
| Mexico (AMPROFON) | 4× Platinum+Gold | 270,000 |
| New Zealand (RMNZ) | Platinum | 30,000 |
| Poland (ZPAV) | Diamond | 100,000 |
| Portugal (AFP) | Platinum | 10,000 |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE) | 2× Platinum | 120,000 |
| Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) | 3× Platinum | 60,000 |
| United Kingdom (BPI) | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000 |
| United States (RIAA) | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000 |
| Streaming | ||
| Sweden (GLF) | 5× Platinum | 40,000,000 |
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Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
Release history
| Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | 8 September 2017 | Digital download | RCA | |
| United Kingdom | 9 September 2017 | Contemporary hit radio | ||
| United States | 19 September 2017 | |||
| Italy | 6 October 2017 | Sony |