Almost Is Never Enough

"Almost Is Never Enough" is the tenth track from Ariana Grande's debut album Yours Truly. It features singer Nathan Sykes. It was released as a promotional single one day before the release of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones to capitalise on Grande's popularity in order to drum up anticipation for the film. The song was well-received, with most critics praising Grande's vocal range and control; it debuted at #85 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at #82. A longer version is included on Grande's debut studio album Yours Truly.

Background
"Almost Is Never Enough" was written by Grande, Harmony Samuels, Carmen Reece, Al Sherrod Lambert, Olaniyi-Akinpelu, and its producer, Moses Samuels. Ariana originally recorded "Almost Is Never Enough" as a solo ballad for her album. Roughly a week later, she received an email from her manager Scooter Braun, who also manages the English boy band The Wanted. In the email was a new version of the song that had Nathan Sykes's vocal added to it. Ariana loved the new version and decided to keep it for her album. Especially at 4:39 when Nathan sings that riff. First time she heard it she spent the whole day trying to sing it.

Critical reception
The duet received positive reception. Idolator editor Mike Wass called "Almost Is Never Enough" a "glorious" and "soulful" anthem and praised the collaboration between the two artists; "The simple production is timeless and showcases Ariana's powerful pipes superbly. And who knew Nathan could sing like that? 'Almost Is Never Enough' is a revelation all around and promises very good things for Grande's debut album." Brent Faulkner of Star Pulse found the duet to be a pleasantly surprising blend of modern and classical elements and noted that the song "should be sappy but isn't". This sentiment was mirrored by Popdust ' s Andrew Unterberger, who observed that the song "manages to mostly stay out of the way of its two talented young vocalists... and lets them carry it with the strength of their voices, and of the song itself. The result is a ballad that’s surprisingly mature and classic sounding." Unterberger also drew comparisons to Mariah Carey, and her Boyz II Men duet "One Sweet Day" in particular.

Music video
The music video of "Almost Is Never Enough" was filmed on August 4, 2013 and released on YouTube on August 19. The video features Grande and Sykes performing the song in a recording studio. It also featured a few scenes from the movie The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.

Live performances
Sykes and Grande sung the song in the Believe Tour several times. It was also performed on September 5, 2013 in the talk show ''Live! With Kelly and Michael''.