Format 7"
digital download Length 3:41 | Genre House
indie pop Label Columbia | |
Released 23 January 2012 (2012-01-23) Writer(s) Christian Karlsson
Pontus Winnberg
Andrew Wyatt | ||
"Paddling Out" is a song performed by Swedish indie pop band Miike Snow from its second studio album Happy to You (2012). The house song was released on 23 January 2012 as the album's lead single. It impacted alternative radio in the United States on 27 March 2012.
Contents
Critical reception
Evan Sawdey of PopMatters named "Paddling Out" the best track on Happy to You, calling it "absolutely jaw-dropping". He wrote, "Weird vocal snippets and other effects are spliced in for good measure, but what we're left with is one of the best dance tracks that's not being played right now." Consequence of Sound writer Chris Coplan wrote that the song "keeps in line with [the band's] back catalog and simultaneously stands as some of their more joyous work to date". Alibhe Malone of NME called it "by far the easiest link back to the trio's earlier work".
Music video
The music video for "Paddling Out" was directed by Andreas Nilsson. The clip features a man who awakens on the floor of his house, but he is actually aboard an alien ship where he is given plastic surgery to be transformed into the "perfect specimen" called Jean Noel Mustonen. Hating his new appearance, the man "dances his sadness away". The ship then crashes to Earth.
In an interview for Digital Spy, lead singer Wyatt explained the video, "We really liked [director] Andreas's images and I think they go together in a way that feels truthful with what we do. As Stephen Colbert would say, truthiness will come out in different ways for different people. I think that's one of the strengths of his work because it matches our sound and you can read into it in different ways. The 'Paddling Out' clip is the first episode of more videos. We'll see, we don't really know exactly what's going to happen."
Formats and track listings
- "Paddling Out" – 3:41
- "Paddling Out" (Wolfgang Gartner remix) – 6:07
- "Paddling Out" – 3:41
- "Paddling Out" – 3:41
- "Paddling Out" (Wolfgang Gartner remix) – 6:07
- "Paddling Out" (Jacques Lu Cont remix) – 5:45
- "Paddling Out" (Carli remix) – 6:02
Credits and personnel
Credits are adapted from the Happy to You liner notes.
In popular culture
"Paddling Out" was featured in a 2013 Budweiser commercial. It was also featured in the second-season Suits episode "Sucker Punch". It was also featured in the video games, Forza Horizon and EA Sports game, FIFA 13.