Chicane has publicly drawn attention to similarities between his 1997 track, “Offshore,” Calvin Harris’ recent single, “Blessings.”
Last week, Calvin Harris released a brand-new song by the name of “Blessings” featuring Clementine Douglas. Just how new it actually is seems to be a subject of debate, as Chicane has called attention to its likeness to his 1997 single “Offshore.”
In a social media video that he says he “never thought [he] would have to make,” Chicane loops a sample of his track’s iconic synth lead to yield a startlingly similar groove to the one in “Blessings.” The resemblance is hard to deny. At one point, he brings his loop in on top of “Blessings,” showing an almost indiscernible difference between the two melodies.
“I think you’ll probably agree it’s really hard to decipher when one comes in and one goes,” Chicane says. “That is because they’re almost identical, which is a bit of a problem. I am defending my copyright and my intellectual property here, guys.”
To his point, recording artists have been found guilty of copyright infringement for far less. In a landmark 2015 case, a California district judge ruled that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams had to pay the Marvin Gaye estate $7.4 million for copying the “feel” and “sound of” the late R&B singer’s 1977 single “Got to Give it Up” in their controversial 2013 track “Blurred Lines.”
In the grand scheme of dance music, “Offshore” was undeniably successful. It reached #5 on Billboard‘s “Dance Club Play” chart, peaking at #12 in Ireland and #14 in the UK. Even as recently as 2018, Mixmag recognized it as one of “The 15 Best Mid-90s Trance Tracks.”
On Sunday, Calvin Harris responded to the controversy with an Instagram video in which he appeared to struggle to reproduce the side-by-side comparison as Chicane had. “It’s just not the same,” he can be heard saying of the “Blessings” melody when held up to the one of “Offshore.”
A spokesperson on behalf of Calvin Harris did not immediately respond to EDM Identity’s request for comment.
