"Jungle Drum" is the third single released from Icelandic singer-songwriter

Emilíana Torrini Emilíana Torrini (born 16 May 1977) is an Icelandic singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 2009 single "Jungle Drum", her 1999 album '' Love in the Time of Science'', and her performance of " Gollum's Song" for the 2002 film '' The Lo ...

's third album, '' Me and Armini''. It was released as a digital download on 9 March 20097digital.com: Jungle Drum by Emiliana Torrini
and later on 19 June 2009 as a CD single in Germany.Emiliana Torrini: Release dates
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Critical reception

Critics received the song very warmly;

Popmatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

' reviewer Spencer Tricker called "Jungle Drum" the "catchiest tune" on the

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

(alongside " Big Jumps"), "every bit as good as the singles from

Fisherman's Woman ''Fisherman's Woman'' is an album by Emilíana Torrini, released on 31 January 2005 in the UK and 26 April 2005 in the United States. The songs "Lifesaver", "Sunnyroad" ( UK #82)

". He also praised the song for boasting "an irresistible chorus that features some totally unexpected scatting". Matthew Allard from

ARTISTdirect ARTISTdirect is an American online digital media entertainment company. Overview Founded in 1994, it owns several websites, including artistdirect.com and artistdirectinterviews.com. These websites are a group of affiliate websites offering mul ...

stated the song "should be an iPhone ad". Clickmusic reviewer Francis Jolley called the song "a sprightly, fun little gem, reminiscent of

Nancy Sinatra Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer and actress. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra ( Barbato), and is best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'. Nancy Sinatra ...

in her heyday" and "infectious Scandinavian pop". Both Popmatters and Clickmusic reviews praised the song's rhythm section calling it impossible "to not foot tap along" to.

Appearances in media

In 2009 it also appeared in the

Germany's Next Topmodel ''Germany's Next Topmodel'' (often abbreviated as ''GNTM'') is a German reality television series, based on a concept introduced by Tyra Banks with ''America's Next Top Model''. The competition is hosted by Heidi Klum who also serves as the le ...

TV show."Der Song aus Germany's Next Topmodel"
(in German) Thus, the song became very popular in German-speaking countries. It was planned to appear in the dance video game ''

Just Dance 3 ''Just Dance 3'' is a 2011 dance rhythm game released on the Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 with Kinect and Move support respectively for the latter two. It is part of the '' Just Dance'' video game series published by Ubisoft originally on the ...

'' but it did not appear for unknown reasons. In 2010 the track was used as a theme song in a video made for the Government of Iceland's official campaign "Inspired by Iceland" to lure tourists to visit

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

Track listings

Digital download # "Jungle Drum" — 2:13 German CD single # "Jungle Drum" — 2:13 # "Me and Armini" — 4:17

Chart performance

The song debuted on the

German Singles Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...

at number 12 and peaked at number one on its fourth week, where it stayed for eight consecutive weeks. It stayed on that chart for a total of 35 weeks. The song also reached number one in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Covers

* In 2009, the song had been covered by German band

The Baseballs The Baseballs are a German rock and roll band founded in Berlin in 2007. They became popular with 1950s and 1960s style rock cover versions of modern hits such as "Umbrella" by Rihanna, "Crazy in Love" by Beyoncé, "Hot n Cold" by Katy Perry and ...

and is featured on their cover album '' Strike! Back!''. * In 2009, Austrian hip hop artist

Chakuza Peter Pangerl (born 22 February 1981), better known as Chakuza, is an Austrian rapper. Career After finishing an apprenticeship to become chef, he teamed up with DJ Stickle and MC J and formed the hip hop group ''Verbale Systematik''. W ...

sampled the song on his free track "Jungle Drum Mix". * In 2019, German metal band

Emil Bulls Emil Bulls is a German rock band that was formed in 1995 in Munich, Bavaria. The group consists of two guitarists, a bass guitar player, a drummer and a vocalist/guitarist. History In 1995, Christoph "Christ" von Freydorf (vocals) and Stefan ...

released the song on their cover album called "Mixtape".

References

{{Authority control Emilíana Torrini songs 2008 songs 2009 singles Number-one singles in Austria Number-one singles in Germany Songs about drums Songs written by Dan Carey (record producer) Songs written by Emilíana Torrini Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles