"Electric Feel" is a song by the American rock band MGMT, released as the second single from their debut studio albumOracular Spectacular (2007) on June 23, 2008.[5] The single was released as a 7" and CD single, and later on 12" vinyl. "Electric Feel" was released to radio on July 29, 2008.[6] The song's second video features The Rock-afire Explosion.[7] The song is primarily in 6 4 time, with an instrumental bridge in 4 4.
Reception
"Electric Feel" became MGMT's first Australian ARIA top 50 hit, as well as their first New Zealand RIANZ top 40 hit. In the United States, the song originally peaked at number 20 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, but reached a new peak of number 14 almost three years after the original peak, due to a resurgence in sales from exposure on The Voice. (The version of "Electric Feel" covered by The Voice contestant, Preston Pohl also debuted at number 21 on the same week)[8][9] The song was ranked at number five on NME's list of the Best Singles of 2008,[10] and came in at number two on Australia's Triple J Hottest 100 countdown for 2008.
The music video, which was nominated for Best Art Direction at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, is often described as an ecstasy or acid trip, while some argue it as being a depiction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Pitchfork Media described the video as "a krazy, kandy-kolored, loud neon thingamajig video."[14]
Another music video features an appearance by The Rock-afire Explosion. The Rock-afire Explosion was an animatronic animal band that played in Showbiz Pizza Place and Circus Pizza in the 1980s and 1990s. In the beginning of the video, two individuals with white and black painted faces can be seen stirring a pot, and later in the video dancing. These are Abby Fuller and Rafael Pulido, who starred in Jon Salmon's amateur music video, dancing and singing along to MGMT's "Kids".
The video depicts the band members and various people, cartoon characters, The Rock-afire Explosion, and animal-people partying in the middle of the Tikal jungle. They take the Moon from the sky, cut it open, and paint themselves in a neon ooze emitting from it. Then put it back in the sky. During the closing sequence, the members of MGMT get on motorbikes (late 1970s Honda CB400Ts) and drive into the Moon, which then explodes, causing a rain of neon colors to fall on the dancing people.
The YouTube video has received over 150 million views.
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Covers and remixes
The official remix features former Columbia Records label mate Jim Jones. It was supposed to be featured on his fourth album Pray IV Reign but was cut. In an interview with GQ.com Jim Jones explained how the remix came to be[37]
“They did a show [at United Palace Theater] up in Washington Heights; the initial conversation was just that it was an honor to meet them, I think they're kinda cool and… from there, it led into me saying, It'd be crazy if I remixed "Electric Feel". They were like, ‘Yeah, that would be crazy,’ so I said, ‘Let me get the beats and shit.’”
Coast Modern released a cover of the song in 2018.
Henry Green released an acoustic cover of this song. Norwegian musician and DJ, Kygo, also remixed this specific cover to his signature Tropical house style.
Nipsey Hussle incorporated instrumentals of the song on the 12th track, "Call from the Bank" (featuring MGMT) off of his 2010 release, The Marathon.
Media usage
This track was used in the Spring 2009 Ready-to-Wear show for Christian Dior in September 2008.
Former San Francisco Giants closing pitcher Brian Wilson on his reality show, Life of Brian, claimed the song to be his summer hit of 2009.
Australian news show Sunrise used this song as its main opener since January 2010, but by October 2011 the theme was dropped in favor of the original (Reach Up for The) Sunrise theme first adopted in 2004.
The track was used in the BBC documentary The Foods That Make Billions – The Age of Plenty.
The instrumental for this track was used regularly by the British broadcaster ITV as part of their coverage of the UEFA 2024 Men's European Football Championships (Finals).
^ abcMaher, Natalie (2 June 2022). "50 of the Best Songs from the 2000s". Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved 4 November 2022. The song offered a new era of psychedelic, synth-heavy pop rock that called back to the psych dawn of the '60s...
^Rolling Stone Staff (June 28, 2018). "The 100 Greatest Songs of the Century – So Far". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 31, 2023. A glistening funk jam masterfully produced by Flaming Lips wingman Dave Fridman, it's wrapped in silvery synths...like most great funk jams, it's about the druglike power of sex, or in this case maybe sex on drugs.
^"MGMT". links to the Electric Feel single at www.columbiarecords.com. Archived from the original on 2008-06-18. Retrieved 2008-05-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)