Format Digital download Label Sonnet Sound | Length 4:16 Writer(s) Susanne Sundfør | |
Released February 24, 2012 (as single) Producer(s) Susanne Sundfør
Lars Horntveth | ||
"White Foxes" is a song by Norwegian singer-songwriter Susanne Sundfør, released as the lead single of her 2012 album The Silicone Veil. It was initially recorded for the Norwegian-Swedish film Verden Venter, which arrived in theatres in late 2013. It is used in a trailer for the police drama Line of Duty on BBC 2.
Contents
Composition
According to Sundfør, the single is a "love song" about "wanting to be peaceful;" to her, the "most idealic" place to cleanse oneself is in the "middle of nowhere," where the only thing one can see are snow and white foxes. Sundfør believed that these produced "a nice image". Sundfør and Lars Horntveth served as the song's producers. It was initially recorded for the Norwegian-Swedish film Verden Venter, which has a release date in late 2013.
While writing the song, Sundfør developed a "basic melody and basic chords." It opens with a "dark piano melody" that comes to include "menacing vocals." The BBC characterizes it as an "invasively electronic track" that features soaring vocals accompanied by "meaty synthesisers and heavy electronics." The song has also been described by IndieWire as "pretty spiritual," as "most of its lyrics talk about the apocalypse, love, faith, death, earth, and everything in between." In a review of the song, Pitchfork Media noted the presence of a "foggy bassline" as "the drum line lopes steady behind" Sundfør's "high and tense" voice.
The song is 85 BPM.
Release and reception
"White Foxes" was released as the lead single of Sundfør's 2012 studio album, The Silicone Veil. It quickly became the most downloaded song on iTunes in Norway. Its accompanying music video was filmed over two days in Stockholm and its surrounding forests, and detailed four different stories connected by a common theme – a fox.
The song has received generally positive reviews from music critics, with most highlighting Sundfør's voice. It was named "Song of the Week" by Daniel D'Amours of IndieWire, who noted that it was "well orchestrated, creatively written and beautifully sung... I'd never heard Susanne Sundfør's name not too long ago, but now it's one I'm unlikely to forget." Flux Magazine referred to it as a "majestic song" that possesses "rhythm and beats on the track coupled with the electronic blips and blurts are as delicious and catchy as they are complex"
Luke Slater of the BBC opined that "White Foxes" featured Sundfør "at her most versatile," to which Glamour magazine added that the singer's voice "really gives 'White Foxes' its power, as it is filled with high-strung tension that perfectly compliments the song's elusive lyrics." Glamour also praised the song's chorus as "nothing short of glorious". Out magazine named it the 33rd best song of 2012.