"Kriss Kross" / "Clarion" is a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

single by multinational band Guillemots. It was released on 28 September 2008 as a digital download, then as a

limited edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...

10" record two weeks later. It was the first double A-side released by Guillemots. Lead singer

Fyfe Dangerfield Fyfe Antony Dangerfield Hutchins (born 7 July 1980) is an English musician and songwriter, best known as the founding member of the indie rock band Guillemots. Early life Born in Moseley, Birmingham, in 1980, he moved to Bromsgrove at the ag ...

explained: "We've always meant to put out a double A-side at some point, and we couldn't decide which of 'Kriss Kross' and 'Clarion' should be the next single, so now seemed like the right time to do both." Dangerfield was the sole writer of "Clarion"; "Kriss Kross" was credited to the entire band. Both songs were produced by Guillemots and record producer Adam Noble, and both were featured on Guillemots' second album, ''

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

''. "Kriss Kross" had already been made available to download for free from Guillemots' official website during February 2008. When officially rereleased as a download through the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

, the song was featured with "Clarion" as part of a digital EP, alongside a new song written at Latitude Festival 2008 entitled "Fishbone for a Drink", a live cover of "

Black and Gold "Black and Gold" is the lead single from Australian singer Sam Sparro's eponymous debut album. The song was written by Sparro (Sam Falson) and Jesse Rogg. It has been remixed by Max Sanna and Steve Pitron, Paul Epworth, Al Usher, Kings of th ...

" by

Sam Sparro Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictional c ...

, and the music video for "Kriss Kross". The video was filmed in 2008, and was directed by Guillemots member

MC Lord Magrão Ricardo Bombine Pimentel (born October 5, 1978), known by his stage name MC Lord Magrão (stylized as mCLoRDmAGrãO), is a Brazilian-British multi-instrumentalist, composer, songwriter and music producer best known as the former guitarist of Engli ...

, who uploaded it to his personal

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

account during August 2008. Critical reception to "Kriss Kross" / "Clarion" was generally positive. After it was made available for free to download, "Kriss Kross" was described as "cool" by ''

Sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

'';

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

praised its melody and Dangerfield's "trademark exubarence", but stated that its outro was "mundane". Andy Gill of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' described the song as having a "lumbering funk-rock groove", while Nick Orton of

Gigwise ''Gigwise'' is a British online music news site that features music news, photos, album reviews, music festivals, concert tickets and video content. Founded in June 2001, the site is based in London, England. History Gigwise was launched in 2001 ...

called it "aggressive", and "revealing a harder Guillemots than we’re accustomed to". A more critical review came from

Yahoo! Music UK Yahoo! Music was a brand under which Yahoo! provided a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming. Previously, users with Yahoo! accounts could gain access to hundreds ...

, who gave "Kriss Kross" a score of six out of ten, unfavourably comparing it with both British

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

band The Darkness and "

Kiss Kiss Kiss Kiss may refer to: Books * ''Kiss Kiss'' (book), a collection of short stories by Roald Dahl Music * Kiss Kiss (band), an American indie rock band * "Kiss Kiss" (Chris Brown song) * "Kiss Kiss" (Kim Hyun-joong song) * "Kiss Kiss" (Ladies' ...

" by Australian singer

Holly Valance Holly Rachel Candy (; born 11 May 1983), known professionally as Holly Valance, is an Australian actress and singer. Valance began her acting career on the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'', as Felicity Scully (1999–2002, 2005, 2022). Sh ...

Formats and track listings

*Digital download #"Kriss Kross" (Radio Edit) – #" Black & Gold" (Live in Jo Whiley's Live Lounge) – #"Clarion" (Radio Edit) – #"Fishbone for a Drink" – #"Kriss Kross" (music video) – *10" vinyl #"Kriss Kross" – #"

" (Live Lounge) – #"Clarion" – #"Fishbone for a Drink" –

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kriss Kross Clarion 2008 singles Guillemots (band) songs