"Polaroid" is a song recorded by Australian

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

artist

Keith Urban Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is an Australian-American musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter known for his work in country music. Recognized with four Grammy Awards, Urban also received fifteen Academy of Country Music Award ...

. The track was written by Griffen Palmer,

Geoff Warburton Geoff Warburton is a Grammy nominated songwriter from Toronto, Ontario. In 2023, Warburton signed a joint music publishing deal with Big Machine Music and Range Media Partners Warburton was previously signed with Sony/ATV Music Publishing. ...

, Steph Jones,

Sam Fischer Samuel Fischer (born July 5, 1991) is an Australian pop rock singer-songwriter and musician. Fischer released music independently before signing with RCA Records in 2019. RCA re-released his debut EP ''Not a Hobby'' in January 2020. Life and ...

, and Mark Trussell, while Urban produced the track with

Joey Moi Joey Moi is a Canadian record producer, audio engineer, mixer, songwriter, and musician. He is known for his work with the rock groups Nickelback and My Darkest Days, and country music acts Chris Lane, Dallas Smith, Florida Georgia Line, Jake Ow ...

. It was the third single released in Australia off Urban's eleventh studio album ''

The Speed of Now Part 1 ''The Speed of Now Part 1'' is the eleventh studio album by New Zealand-born Australian country music singer Keith Urban. The album was released on 18 September 2020 via Hit Red and Capitol Records Nashville. The album won the Highest Selling Al ...

'', and the first single off the album released in the United Kingdom.

Background and release

Although Urban did not write the song himself, he felt connected to the concept of it after co-producer

sent him the song to listen to it. He stated that when he moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, he and his band lived in a "rundown" house, and someone had given them a

Polaroid camera Polaroid may refer to: * Polaroid Corporation, an American company known for its instant film and cameras * Polaroid camera, a brand of instant camera formerly produced by Polaroid Corporation * Polaroid film, instant film, and photographs * Polaro ...

which they used to take many pictures that were hung up on their wall. Urban said "the idea that this couple in this photograph who were at a party that they didn't really want to be at ... And then, all these years later, they're still together," was a "great lyric". Urban released a snippet of "Polaroid" on social media on the morning of Thursday, 23 April 2020, before officially releasing the full track at midnight the next day.

Critical reception

Lars Brandle of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' described the song as a "rollicking guitar-driven pop number". Joseph Hudak of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' called the track a "breezy, evocative jam," also adding that it is one Urban's "more electronic-focused musical adventures".

Music video

The official music video for "Polaroid" premiered on 24 April 2020, and was directed by

Dano Cerny Dano Cerny is a MTV Music Video Award nominated music video director, known for his collaborations with musicians such as LSD (Labrinth, Sia & Diplo), The Chainsmokers, Halsey, Elle King, Galantis, Wrabel, Bebe Rexha, The Roots, and Bishop Bri ...

. The video was filmed largely using motion control technology, and is centred around a pool party that includes couples, a barbecue, and Urban himself with a guitar. He remarked that he did not initially realize most of the couples in the video were real-life couples, and joked that he thought to himself "Man, they're really committed to this role".

Commercial performance

"Polaroid" peaked at number 2 on the ''TMN'' Country Hot 50 in Australia. It also reached a peak of number 33 on the

Hot Canadian Digital Songs The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

chart.

Track listings

Digital download – single # "Polaroid" – 2:30 # "

God Whispered Your Name "God Whispered Your Name" is a song recorded by New Zealand-Australian country music singer Keith Urban. It was released on 2 March 2020 as the second single from Urban's eleventh studio album '' The Speed of Now Part 1''. Content American Christi ...

" – 3:52

Credits

Adapted from ''

'' liner notes. * Nathan Chapman –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Dave Cohen – keyboards *

– mixing,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, programming *Jerry Roe – drums, percussion *

Ilya Toshinsky Bering Strait was a Russian country music band, whose style was sometimes called "redgrass". In 2003, the band was nominated for a Grammy Award and appeared on the TV show ''60 Minutes''. The group disbanded in 2006. The lineup on their first alb ...

– acoustic guitar *Mark Trussell – programming *

–

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

, electric guitar, production, all vocals

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2020 songs 2020 singles Keith Urban songs Songs written by Steph Jones Songs written by Sam Fischer Songs written by Geoff Warburton Songs written by Griffen Palmer Song recordings produced by Joey Moi