Head & Heart

"Head & Heart" is a song by British DJ and producer Joel Corry and British singer MNEK. It was released as a single on 3 July 2020. The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in July 2020, becoming the first chart-topper for both Corry and MNEK in their native country. The song has also entered the US Billboard Hot 100; it is the first and second entry on the chart for Joel Corry and MNEK, respectively. The song was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2021 Brit Awards.

At the APRA Music Awards of 2022, the song won Most Performed Australian Work and Most Performed Dance/Electronic Work.

On 9 December 2022, the song surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify.

Background

Corry and MNEK told Notion magazine how the collaboration came about:

Joel: I was working on the track last year and at the time, I was launching my single “Lonely” before, so I couldn’t really get my head fully into it. I had this demo and I just knew this track was special. I totally connected with it. Once I got “Lonely” out at the beginning of the year, I started to have the headspace to work on it [“Head & Heart”]. It was far from finished, I knew it needed a new vocal, it needed new parts written. The demo got into MNEK’s hands, thank God [he chuckles]. He messaged me, said he loved the record as well, which meant a lot to me. I’ve been a big fan of MNEK’s for years so when he hit me up, I was like, gheez! He was into re-vocaling the track and he wrote the parts it needed. He was the missing piece of the puzzle. He brought it all together. He sent me his bits and I was blown away by it. I couldn’t be happier with how it’s come out, it’s amazing.

MNEK: I did my bits the day after I heard the song. I had nothing else to do so I was like, let’s go and do that. I did it and sent the parts. To finish the record, me and Joel were WhatsApping each other back and forth about changes on the song constantly – like daily! About can we put this bit back in, can we take this one out, do you lie the synth part added… it was very much that via WhatsApp. It was cool to go back and forth in that way. We were both so excited about the song and it coming out. Obviously, we couldn’t be in the same room, but it was nice for Joel to keep me in the loop with everything that was going on with the song because he could have easily kept me out of it but he respected that I care about everything, and I loved this song as well. It was both of us really excited about it.

Chart performance

"Head & Heart" reached number one in the United Kingdom on 24 July 2020, after first entering the UK Singles Chart at number fifteen two weeks earlier. It became both Corry and MNEK's first number one in their native country and remained at the top position for six consecutive weeks, and was certified Platinum for exceeding 600,000 units on 11 September 2020. The song went on to spend 71 weeks on the UK Singles Chart. The song also reached number one on the Scottish Singles Chart.

"Head & Heart" also reached number one in Ireland and the Netherlands and was a top ten hit in several other countries, including Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand and Sweden. It also peaked at number 12 in Greece.

Music video

The official music video, directed by Elliot Sampson, was shot via split screen and plays on the duality of head and heart. It was described by CelebMix's Katrina Rees as:

The visual follows a day in the life of a particular man, and offers two very different takes.
On one side of the screen, we see a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. In his grey-coloured world, he struggles to get out of bed and start his day, he gets picked on by a gang of kids on his way to work, he misses the bus and is later targeted in the workplace too.
However, on the other side of the screen, we see a guy living his best life in a world full of colour. Getting ready for the day ahead with ease, he plays ball with the gang, enjoys music through his headphones as he waits for the bus, and is celebrated at work by everyone around him.
By the end of the evening, the two versions bump into each other, although whilst the man who’s been struggling is confused by it all, the happy-go-lucky version fills him hope before disappearing. Joel and MNEK (who is serving a serious look!) also appear in the video, with clips of them performing the song intertwined within the story.