"Light Switch" is a song recorded and produced by American singer-songwriter Charlie Puth. It was released on January 20, 2022, as the lead single from his third studio album, Charlie (2022).[2] Puth wrote the song alongside Jacob Kasher Hindlin and Jake Torrey.[3] A funky, uptempo track, the song lyrically sees Puth crooning about his attraction to a love interest.[1] The song was teased several times on his TikTok account, causing the video to go viral on the platform, with many videos being made using the audio.[4]
Commercially, "Light Switch" reached number one in Singapore, and charted in the top ten in Malaysia and Vietnam. It reached the top 40 in Canada, worldwide, Ireland, Lithuania, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, and peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Background
In November 2021, Puth revealed "a single" would come out in 2022 by responding to a comment on Twitter.[5] "Light Switch" then was teased on TikTok that same month, showing him documenting the production of the song. The video went viral on the platform, with a presave for the song made available on November 24, 2021. Throughout the rest of 2021, Puth kept teasing the song in various videos on TikTok. On January 18, 2022, Puth revealed the release date and cover art for "Light Switch" on his social media accounts.[6]
Music video
A few hours after the song's release, an official music video for the song premiered on Puth's YouTube channel. The music video was directed by Christian Breslauer.[7] The music video begins with Puth out of shape after an implied breakup, watching TV on his recliner. A Tae Bo instructor (Billy Blanks) he watches crawls out of the TV and encourages him to get back into shape with some workouts and other activities, such as fence painting, cleaning, and buying $100 worth of Bitcoin. Puth is later shown performing the last chorus to his ex in front of a bright sign that says "SORRY", only to find out the ex has gotten a new, out of shape, boyfriend. The trainer arrives, leading Puth away. In the comments of the video on YouTube, Puth says, "I created the concept for this music video based on an idea I had and shared with the incredible director, Christian Breslauer. I wanted to humorously portray all the things we sometimes try to change about ourselves in order to capture that unrequited love, when deep down we should be changing our lives only to benefit ourselves and no one else."[8] The music video also includes product placements from Regal Select Exterior Paint by Benjamin Moore and the cryptocurrency company Coinbase.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 7. týden 2022 in the date selector. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
^"Media Forest – Weekly Charts. Media Forest. Retrieved May 3, 2022. Note: Romanian and international positions are rendered together by the number of plays before resulting an overall chart.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 25. týden 2022 in the date selector. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 15. týden 2022 in the date selector. Retrieved April 19, 2022.