"Hands to Myself" is a song recorded by American singer Selena Gomez for her second studio album, Revival (2015). It was released on January 20, 2016, as the record's third single by Interscope Records. The track was written by Gomez, Justin Tranter, Julia Michaels, and its producers Mattman & Robin and Max Martin. It is meant to add a fresh female perspective to the album and was influenced by the music of Prince. Musically, it is a dance-pop and synth-pop song backed by lightly clicking percussion, hand claps, a guitar riff and "tribal pop" synths. Throughout the track, Gomez uses both her higher vocal register for belting, as well as her lower range breathy vocals in a volume just above a whisper. She clips her enunciation of the lyrics, which detail sexual desire.
"Hands to Myself" received acclaim from music critics, who complimented its uncharacteristic production and lyrics, as well as Gomez's versatile vocal performance. An accompanying music video directed by Alek Keshishian was premiered as an Apple Music exclusive on December 21, 2015. The video depicts a film of Gomez dressed in lingerie playing a stalker of a Hollywood actor; critics commended its cinematography and the singer's appearance, hailing it as her sexiest and most revealing visual yet. Gomez promoted the song with televised performances on the 2015 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and Saturday Night Live. It has also been lip-synched to by the Victoria's Secret Angels in a promotional video, and used in Beats Electronics' commercial for their Beats Pill portable speaker and was also featured in a television commercial for Pantene. Commercially, "Hands to Myself" reached number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Gomez's fifth consecutive top-ten hit in the United States and third from Revival. It also peaked within the top ten in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Slovakia, and the top twenty in Australia and the United Kingdom.
Writing and production "Hands to Myself" was written by Justin Tranter, Julia Michaels, Robin Fredriksson, Mattias Larsson, Max Martin and Selena Gomez. The second-to-last song recorded for Selena Gomez's second studio album, Revival (2015), "Hands to Myself" was described by Gomez as "a beautiful accident" and "probably the best song on the album". Following the success of the album's lead single "Good for You" which Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter co-wrote, Gomez decided to collaborate for an additional four days with Michaels and Tranter despite her label's instructions for the album to be mixed at the time. Before the sessions began, Gomez felt that she had already addressed her desired themes for Revival, but wanted additional material that would be fresh from a female perspective.
The idea of development for "Hands to Myself" started with the hook, "Can't keep my hands to myself", which Michaels had voiced in a note on her cellphone after singing it in her car. She first approached Tranter, and Robin Fredriksson of Mattman & Robin with the hook, asking, "Is this stupid? This could be really cool, I think". Later, Michaels suggested to Gomez that the track should sound like Prince's music; Gomez enthusiastically agreed. Michaels was also banging a cup on a desk at the session, inspiring a similar sound included in the recording. Another lyric, "You're metaphorical gin-and-juice", was a line Tranter had initially tried using in "a hundred" other songs. A demo of the song was recorded within a day with production from Mattman & Robin who told Gomez that it should be sent to producer Max Martin for further vocal production. At first unsure, Gomez acceded to the duo's suggestion. Martin immediately responded through FaceTime, describing it as the best thing he had heard all year. He included ad libitum and additional vocal hooks at the song's final chorus while also adjusting its pre-chorus. Recording took place at Wolf Cousins and Maratone Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, and at Interscope Studios in Santa Monica, California.
Composition and lyrical interpretation
"Hands to Myself" is a dance-pop and synth-pop song. It begins stripped-down with a minimal backdrop and a sparse, thumping beat. This comprises drums, bass, lightly clicking percussion and hand claps. The beat then snaps and percolates as a dark guitar riff, reminiscent of the Pixies' "Where Is My Mind?" (1988), plays beneath it. Using her lower vocal register and breathy vocals, Gomez coos in an octave just above a whisper. She clips her enunciation with a string of consecutive syllables, "Can't-keep-my-hands-to-my-self".
At the pre-chorus, the song pertains to a "tribal pop" sound with synths and piano becoming prominent. Gomez extends her vocal range belting, "All of the downs and the uppers / Keep making love to each other / And I'm trying, trying, I'm trying, trying". In the chorus, she is then accompanied by gasping background vocals sung by Michaels. Before the final chorus, the music cuts out; Gomez then sings the line "I mean I could but why would I want to?" unaccompanied in one melodic burst. The song ends in a booming crescendo with Gomez's vocal breaking into gasps and sighs.
Lyrically, "Hands to Myself" express sexual desire and wish to find love through good and bad situations. Sam Wolfson of Vice magazine opines that at first the lyrics suggest a typical song about sexual desire, but a "darker undercurrent" then becomes apparent; "there's two narratives at play – a surface and a more hostile truth", he explained. According to Wolfson, the "all of the downs and the uppers" lyric implies a relationship affected by drugs and mental health, further manifested in the line, "The doctors say you're no good". Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic writes that the lyric "you're metaphorical gin-and-juice" "rebukes the idea that Millennials like the 23-year-old Gomez don't get the meaning of 'literal'; is a redundant description given that it's unlikely she'd be singing to an actual cocktail; and is further proof of Long Beach gangsta rap's grand influence". "Hands to Myself" is written in the key of E major with a tempo of 111 beats per minute. The song follows a chord progression of EGmCmB, with Gomez's vocals ranging from the low note of B3 to the high note of C5.
Critical reception Dave Hanratty from Drowned in Sound deemed it a "laser-focused sugar rush". Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone praised the song's fun and flirty sound, writing, "Her brand of sexiness has a coy, subtle quality that never tries too hard". Sal Cinquemani, writer for Slant Magazine, said Gomez's vocal performance made the track interesting, describing it as smartly indebted to that of Robyn; "success is a pretty girl who knows how to play her cards," he concluded. Jamieson Cox of The Verge commented: "She's a piece of the puzzle rather than a figure at the forefront, and her bigger moments are made to look more impressive by the gulf between them and her hushed, clipped verses. The result is something that sounds like an upper-case version of the xx, and it's a great look for Selena. Smart writing always wins." USA Today critic Elysa Gardner commended Gomez's "sense of poise and reserve" on the song which she highlighted as "lithe".
Ed Masley from The Arizona Republic regarded Gomez's phrasing as brilliant and deemed "Hands to Myself" the sexiest track the singer had done. Masley also complimented the production which he felt was uncharacteristic for Martin, likening it to 1990s productions by The Neptunes. Similarly, Los Angeles Times critic Mikael Wood commended Gomez's vocal performance as "a study in restraint" and Martin's production as "uncharacteristically delicate". Spencer Kornhaber from The Atlantic called it "instantly catchy", highlighting the "wonderfully bizarre" lyrics. Jia Tolentino of Spin magazine regarded "Hands to Myself" as "weightless meditation on seduction" and lauded its "dance tent's worth of pent-up energy" and "perfect interlude". Brennan Carley, also writing for Spin, complimented Gomez's "impeccable" phrasing and the track's "crisp" production, further noting that the song manifested Gomez's growth as a singer; he wrote she "breathes life" into the song and excels at "stretching the boundaries of what her aerated tones can achieve".
Myles Tanzer from The Fader wrote: "Swedish [production] perfection aside, Gomez makes the song. Her vocal performance is equal parts power and fun." Another The Fader writer said Gomez sounded "borderline unrecognizable", adding, "and I'm 100% here for the glo up". Sal Maicki of Complex magazine called it "a certified banger", adding, "It's intimate and mature, whilst ridiculously catchy". Lauren Nostro of the same publication deemed the track "absolutely irresistible", and opined that it marked a peak for Gomez's coy attitude and breathy vocals. Nostro concluded: "It's an effortlessly catchy pop smash, but more importantly, it finds Selena at her most playful—she's making grown and sexy music now, and she's not afraid to show it." Some critics viewed the song's "I mean I could but why would I want to?" line as one of the best moments in pop music in 2015. Billboard ranked "Hands to Myself" at number 91 on their "Billboard's 100 Best Pop Songs of 2016: Critics' Picks" list, writing “Breathy, sexy fun, and Selena Gomez's quivering delivery of the coy lyrics makes you really believe she literally cannot let her hands stay idle. It also contains quite possibly the best throwaway line of the year.”
Accolades Year-end lists Publication List Rank2015 Complex The Best Songs of 2015 50 Rolling Stone Rob Sheffield's Top 25 Songs of 2015 15 Spin The 101 Best Songs of 2015 92 The Arizona Republic 30 Best Songs of 2015 30 The Fader The 107 Best Songs of 2015 1032016 Billboard100 Best Pop Songs of 2016: Critics' Picks 912021The 100 Greatest Song Bridges of the 21st Century 97
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Result 2016 iHeartRadio MMVAs iHeartRadio International Artist of the Year Most Buzzworthy International Artist or Group iHeartRadio Music Awards Best Cover Song (Covering Troye Sivan) Teen Choice Awards Choice Song: Female Artist Choice Love Song 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards Best Cover Song (Covering DNCE)
Chart performance Despite Interscope's promotion, and strong airplay of Revivals second single "Same Old Love" at the time, "Hands to Myself" managed to initially find commercial success with minimal promotion ahead of an announced release date after an accompanying music video that shows a lip-synced version of "Hands to Myself" by Victoria's Secret Angels. "Hands to Myself" debuted at number 77 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart dated December 26, 2015. Following the release of its accompanying music video, the song rose from number 62 to number 39—prompted by a 95% sales increase (47,000 copies) and a 43% increase in streams (five million) that week—and also climbed from number 46 to number 18 on the US Digital Songs chart and debuted at number 37 on the US Streaming Songs chart. For the week ending February 13, 2016, the song rocketed from number 21 to seven on the Hot 100, giving Gomez her fifth top ten hit overall and third from Revival. As of July 7, 2016 Hands to Myself has sold 958,754 copies in the US, according to Nielsen Soundscan.Chart: Hot Digital Songs Nielsen Soundscan.