Masc For Masc

"Masc For Masc" is a song by British recording artist Jack Stevens, and is the first single from his fifth studio album Close Encounters.

Recording & composition
Recording for Jack’s fifth studio album Close Encounters was completed in secret at Jack’s home in The Cotswolds, during the Summer 2020 period when the majority of the United Kingdom was in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Jack recorded and produced the album from his home studio alongside his long-term collaborators Shell Ruin and Knobfeelers. “Masc For Masc” was the first track written for the project and was one of two tracks Jack took to both Shell and his production team, initially unsure if it would be for an album, but more as a vanity project to see if he still could enjoy the recording process. Penned by Jack, the track is a light-hearted, tongue in cheek take on the world of online dating, especially in the LGBTQ+ community and amongst it’s quirky, risqué lyrics touches on the internalised homophobic ever present within the world.

Release & promotion
“Masc For Masc” was officially announced as the first single from Close Encounters via a press release issued on October 16, 2020 the same day as tickets for Jack’s Close Encounters Tour were released on sale and will be released through Jack’s own label JSM under licence to Blush Recordings in an exclusive distribution deal. “Masc For Masc” was released on November 13, 2020 to all major streaming and digital download sites and Jack gave fans a first look at the lyrics to the track and the cover art for the single through his social channels on October 21, 2020. Jack Stevens performed the track for the first time at the MTV EMA's 2020 and supported the release of the single with interviews on The Graham Norton Show, This Morning, Sunrise (Australia), Good Morning America and The Zoe Ball Show on Radio 2.

Chart performance
'Masc For Masc' debuted at number one on 20/11/2020 with sales of 131,986 copies and gives Jack the record for the longest gap between number one singles, of ten years and ten months. The single also reached number one on the official Urapopstar Airplay Chart on the same date.  'Masc For Masc' has been certified Gold for sales in excess of 326,141 copies and has spent three weeks on the Urapopstar singls chart.

Tracklisting & formats
‘Masc For Masc’ is Jack’s first single to not receive a release on a physical CD format. A limited number of 7” vinyl editions were created and sold as a bundle with the album Close Encounters.

Digital Single (Released November 13, 2020) 01. Masc For Masc Knobfeelers Digital Remixes EP (Released November 20, 2020) 01. Masc For Masc (Big Dick Energy Remix) 02. Masc For Masc (Top To Bottom Club Vers-ion) 03. Masc For Masc (Ghosted On Grindr Candelight Mix) 04. Masc For Masc

Credits & personnel
“Masc For Masc” was written and produced by Jack Stevens and his production collaborators Knobfeelers from his home studio. All vocals are credited to Jack and all instrumentation, production and mastering elements are credited as just Knobfeelers. The instrumental of the track includes a sample of the Grindr app notification sound which is used with permission from Grindr LLC. The track is copyrighted and property of JSM and licensed exclusively for use to Blush Recordings.