ILLENIUM and Marshmello have finally released an original record together. "Close My Eyes," featuring SACHA, is out now through Joytime Collective after spending months as one of their most closely watched IDs.
From Ultra Miami to Red Rocks
This one didn't come as a surprise. ILLENIUM brought Marshmello onstage during his Ultra Miami headline set back in March, playing the unreleased track for the Mainstage crowd. They ran it back in August during a back-to-back at Red Rocks, so by the time "Close My Eyes" actually came out, fans already had a good idea what it sounded like.
The two have crossed paths before, just not like this. ILLENIUM remixed Marshmello and Khalid's "Silence" back in 2017, but "Close My Eyes" is their first original record together.
Listen to "Close My Eyes"
Where their sounds meet
The song opens sparse, just guitar and SACHA's voice up front. She sings about sleep as a temporary escape from someone who's gone, and that loss sits underneath everything before the production opens up.
The drop lands squarely in melodic bass: bright synths, clean drums, a wide emotional lift. You can hear ILLENIUM's fingerprints on the slow build, while Marshmello keeps things direct enough to still work as a pop song. Neither one steps on the other.
A long-awaited first
The two have been circling this collaboration for years, and it shows. ILLENIUM and Marshmello are both known for turning collabs into festival-sized moments, but "Close My Eyes" doesn't try to be one. It's short, it's direct, and SACHA gets most of the space.
That restraint tracks with how long this took. Between the Ultra Miami tease, the Red Rocks preview, and years of the two trading favors without a proper release, "Close My Eyes" had plenty of chances to turn into something overworked. It didn't. It's just a good song, finally out.
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