Issues (Julia Michaels song)


"Issues" is the debut single recorded by American singer and songwriter Julia Michaels, from her third EP Nervous System. The song was co-written with Justin Tranter, and its producers Benny Blanco and Stargate. Released by Republic Records on January 13, 2017, as the lead single from the EP, it is a confessional downtempo pop song. Lyrically, it is a raw ode to Michaels' anxiety.
The song peaked in the top 10 of the record charts in Australia, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Norway, Scotland and UK. In the US, the song peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Issues" is certified Platinum or higher in twelve countries including Diamond in France. The song's accompanying music video was directed by Tabitha Denholm. It depicts Michaels hosting a party with a group of friends.
The video premiered on March 7, 2017. "Issues" received a Song of the Year nomination at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. Michaels promoted the song in a number of appearances, including live performances at The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards, Wango Tango, the 2017 Billboard Music Awards, the 2017 iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards, the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards and The Today Show.

Background and composition

"Issues" was written by Michaels, and Justin Tranter. A few artists, who Stargate and Benny Blanco refused to name, laid claim to the song. However, Michaels refused to give the song away as it felt "too much my story to give to someone else.
Recording sessions for "Issues" took place at Westlake Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California, and Treehouse X Studio, Suffolk, United Kingdom. It was engineered by Dave Schwerkolt and Chris Sclafani. Mark “Spike” Stent mixed the track at Mixsuite UK with assistance from Michael Freeman and Geoff Swish. Blanco and Stargate, who produced the song, also performed all the instruments and programming. Tom Coyne and Randy Merrill completed the audio mastering at Sterling Sound, New York City.
Musically, "Issues" is a confessional downtempo pop song. In terms of music notation, "Issues" was composed using common time in the key of A major, with a moderate tempo of 114 beats per minute. The song follows the chord progression of D-E-A/C-Dsus2 and Michaels' vocal range spans from the low note C4 to the high note of E5, giving the song one octave and two notes of range. Lyrically, Michaels has described the song as a raw ode to her own anxieties.

Critical reception

The song received generally positive reviews from music critics. A writer for Billboard praised the song, writing, "with blunt, honest lyricism and razor-sharp songwriting, Michaels' decision to choose minimal production proves to be wise, helping to frame her intriguing vocals expertly in order to give fans a delicious first taste of what is yet to come". Writing for Idolator, Mike Wass stated "it can be hard for songwriters to carve out a unique voice when they step out on their own, but it doesn’t look like that will be a problem for Julia".

Music video

The official music video for the song, directed by Tabitha Denholm, was released on March 7, 2017. It features Michaels experiencing the unknown that every relationship goes through. It portrays the singer in a "loving" relationship which "feels like it could fall apart any moment. The male role is played by Alex Koch. The official lyric video for the song was released after the music video on May 17, 2017. It was directed by Pedro Chaves and shot in London, United Kingdom. The video displays the life of several people and several backgrounds.

Chart performance

"Issues" reached the top 10 in Belgium, Denmark, France, Norway, Romania, Scotland, and the Czech Republic and the top 20 in some other countries. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number 10.
In Australia, the song climbed up the ARIA Singles Chart for five weeks before reaching number five there. It was eventually certified Gold there, having sold more than 35,000 copies in the country. It also reached number 11 in New Zealand.
In the United States, "Issues" spent 18 weeks on the chart before reaching a peak of number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks. The song had sold 1,040,000 copies in the United States as of January 2018.

Live performances

Michaels made her late night television debut on March 20, 2017 performing "Issues" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. She also performed "Issues" at the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards on April 30, 2017 and at Wango Tango on May 13, 2017. At the 2017 Billboard Music Awards, Michaels was selected as the T-Mobile Breakthrough Artist and gave a performance of "Issues" that was regarded one of the night's best by several media outlets. Michaels also performed the song at the 2017 iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards on June 18, 2017 and at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards on August 27, 2017. The latter performance was cut short on TV as MTV decided to cut to a commercial break, which upset many people, including Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine. The song was performed on The Today Show on August 2017.

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Recording and management
Personnel
Credits adapted from Nervous System liner notes.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end chart

Certifications

Release history