"Over and Over" is the first single from English
synthpop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...
band
Hot Chip
Hot Chip are an English synthpop band formed in London in 1995. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin. They are occasionally joined by former member Rob Smoughton for ...
's second studio album, ''
The Warning''. It was released twice in the UK in 2006 – first reaching number 32 in March and peaking at number 27 in October.
Music video
The music video, directed by
Nima Nourizadeh
Nima Nourizadeh ( fa, نیما نوریزاده; born 12 November 1977) is a British-Iranian film, music video, and commercials director. Nourizadeh is the son of political activist Alireza Nourizadeh and his siblings are electronic music ...
, features the band members in what appears to be a heavily special effects-laden production, effects which are rarely seen in the video, instead having the band members performing in a stylized
green screen
Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to r ...
stage, with several bored-looking assistants in green bodysuits holding props (at one point, in an attempt to recreate a bicycle ride, moving trees around to create an illusion of movement). The video was preloaded on all first generation
Zune 30
The Zune 30 is a portable media player developed by Microsoft, and the first hardware device in Microsoft's Zune brand. It was released on November 14, 2006, simply named the Zune. After subsequent versions with different hard drive capacities, t ...
devices.
Artwork
The cover art, designed by Wallzo and Owen Clarke, uses the same pattern present in many of the other releases from ''
The Warning''.
Release and reception
The track first appeared in December 2004 on a studio mix by
Radio Soulwax
''Radio Soulwax'' is the former project of David and Stephen Dewaele of 2manydjs. It has taken several forms, most recently appearing as aappanhosting 24 individual hour-long mixes, with custom visuals similar to those used in the 2manydjs live ...
. The mix was broadcast in Australia, the UK (as the
Essential Mix
The ''Essential Mix'' is a weekly radio show on BBC Radio 1 currently broadcast between 0:00 and 2:00 a.m. UK time on Saturday morning. Originally broadcast on 30 October 1993, the ''Essential Mix'' features contemporary DJs and music producer ...
on
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
), and in Belgium (as Hang The Year 2004 on
Studio Brussel
A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial d ...
). The US release of "Over and Over" occurred on 29 November 2005 on
DFA/
Astralwerks
Astralwerks is an American record label primarily focused on electronic music owned by Universal Music Group. Its material is distributed via Capitol Music Group in the United States. The label was founded in 1993 and, in its early years, featur ...
. The B side, "Just Like We (Breakdown)
FA Remix, did not chart.
EMI Records
EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...
first released the song in the UK on 27 February 2006 and re-released it on 9 October 2006. In Australia, the single was issued on 3 April 2006.
Critical reception
''NME'' described "Over and Over" as being an "insanely catchy kitchen-sink club-stomper". The lyrics ''"Laid-back? We'll give you laid-back"'' were described as a "thinly-veiled raised middle finger to detractors who considered them 'too chilled'".
''NME'' also described it as "a rhapsodic,
DFA-sized slice of smart pop."
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
said that "Over and Over"'s "pulsing groove
ssuggestive of old stuff (
Liquid Liquid) and new (
the Rapture
The rapture is an eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all Christian believers who are alive, along with resurrected believers, will rise "in the c ...
,
WhoMadeWho
WhoMadeWho is a Copenhagen-based experimental pop trio, who formed in 2003. The band consists of jazz guitarist Jeppe Kjellberg, drummer Tomas Barfod and singer/bassist Tomas Høffding.
Career
The band released several 12-inches on German dis ...
)".
The single was rated as the
single of the year in 2006 by UK music magazine ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
''. In response to this, Alexis Taylor stated that he was proud and that it was "a very nice thing to happen after a year of working on
herecord, promoting it and playing it". In 2009,
Pitchfork Media
''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog.
Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...
ranked the track at number 45 on their decade-end list. In 2011, ''NME'' placed it at number 7 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
Track listings
First release
CD
# "Over and Over"
# "A Family in Here"
# "Over and Over" (Justus Köhncke's Baking Horse Club Mix)
# "Over and Over" (video)
7-inch
# "Over and Over"
# "The Girl In Me"
Second release
CD1
# "Over and Over"
# "Grubbs"
CD2
# "Over and Over"
# "Sexual Healing"
# "Over and Over"
ock & Toof Dub
12-inch
# "Over and Over"
aurice Fulton Dub# "Over and Over"
ock & Toof Dub# "Just Like We (Breakdown)"
ooka Shade Vocal Mix# "Just Like We (Breakdown)"
ooka Shade Dub Mix
7-inch
# "Over and Over"
aida Vale Session Version# "Sexual Healing"
Charts
References
External links
Music video at YouTube
{{Authority control
Hot Chip songs
2006 singles
2006 songs
Astralwerks singles
Songs written by Alexis Taylor
Songs written by Joe Goddard (musician)