"Underwater Love" is a song by the English band

Smoke City Smoke City was an English band that blended acid jazz and trip hop, borrowing from Brazilian styles such as samba and bossa nova and some lyrics have excerpts in Portuguese. They are best known for their single " Underwater Love", which was ...

. First released in 1995, the song did not receive recognition until its appearance in a

Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. () is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's () brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, to o ...

commercial in 1997, upon which it was positively received critically and charted in 10 countries. The single peaked at number four on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Background

The Brazilian-inspired track is built upon a gentle, constant guitar strum, drums and samples, some of which are rainforest noises, others are from "Bahia Soul" by

Luiz Bonfá Luiz Floriano Bonfá (17 October 1922 – 12 January 2001) was a Brazilian guitarist and composer. He was best known for the music he composed for the film ''Black Orpheus''. Biography Luiz Floriano Bonfá was born on October 17, 1922, in Ri ...

and "Mother Popcorn" by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

. It was written by the band's singer

Nina Miranda Nina Miranda is a Brazilian-born English singer and songwriter who was a member of English bands Smoke City, Shrift and Zeep. Life and career Miranda was born in Brasília, Distrito Federal. Her mother is the English Liz Thompson-Miranda; ...

and programmer Marc Brown, two former school friends who were admirers of 1970s funk,

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

, and

Gilberto Gil Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira (; born 26 June 1942), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and politician, known for both his musical innovation and political activism. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Brazil's Minister of Culture in the administration ...

.Smoke City
AllMusic.com, Retrieved 27 July 2015 Miranda and Brown were also credited as producers together with

Mike Peden Michael Peden is a British record producer, remixer and composer, best known for his work with the British musical duo Lighthouse Family. With his former band the Chimes, Peden had a hit single with their version of "I Still Haven't Found What I ...

and band member

Chris Franck Chris Franck is a German-born English musician, songwriter, record producer, and remixer, best known for his involvement with the bands Batu, Da Lata, Smoke City, and Zeep. He is described as a "multi-instrumentalist". Biography Franck was b ...

. ''Underwater Love'' was first recorded in 1994, and released in 1995 via Ritas Records, the song became a hit after being used in a commercial for

Levi's jeans Levi Strauss & Co. () is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's () brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, to o ...

. Prior to this, it had been featured on the Fourth & Broadway/Island compilation "The Rebirth Of Cool Six". Lead singer

, who was living in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

at the time, was asked to return to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to discuss signing the project. Miranda and Smoke City were later based in London, but their interests were in Brazil. Miranda was proud that they had success in Portugal as that country was "in the middle of what we're about". Upon its re-release, on 31 March 1997, the song made the charts in 10 countries. Underwater Love was included on the band's debut album which was titled "Flying Away".

Critical reception

Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' wrote that "this well-constructed alloy of dub, hip hop and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

is sufficiently catchy in its own right, however, and would probably have become a hit even without the support of the TV ad." A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated it five out of five, adding that "this hauntingly-sensuous melange of latin percussion, film noir vibes and bewitching vocals is begging to be the next

Bond theme The "James Bond Theme" is the main signature theme music of the James Bond films and has featured in every Eon Productions Bond film since '' Dr. No'', released in 1962. Composed by Monty Norman (with arrangements for film provided by John Bar ...

." Also Andy Beevers from the magazine's ''RM'' Dance Update gave it five out of five, describing it as a "sublime slice of sub-aqua sultriness". ''

New Musical Express ''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 ...

'' commended its mixture of "dub and Brazilian touches and healthy helpings of sleaze", whilst The Pitch Online called the song "a perfect reprieve from the steel bars of winter into a humid rainforest of resonating vocals and music" and praised the vocals of

, noting that "even better than her exotic purring of the English hook would be when she transitions to a string of spoken Portuguese without using her full singing voice". David Sinclair from ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' viewed it as a "exotic, hypnotic blend of Brazilian and hip hop beats". In addition, Tom Bromley, author of ''We Could Have Been the Wombles'', described the song as having "a fantastic feel: the hypnotically plucked guitar, the funky drum loop, a judicious mix of Brazilian beats and sonar bleeps, wafts of organ and hints of

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

reall topped off by Nina's mesmeric vocals".

Chart performance

The song charted internationally, with its highest peak being in the UK at number four – becoming the 14th song to enter the

on the back of being featured in a

advertisement and the third debut act to chart this way – followed by number 18 in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Further top forty placements came 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 ...

, with number 23,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and number 33 in the Wallonia region of Belgium. Other placings came in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, at number 41, the Flanders region of Belgium at number 42, number 55 in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, number 58 in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and number 97 in

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song includes all three members of the band, and was directed by Tim Macmillan and John Lynch, with final production by Red Post in London.

Track listing

* UK, European and Australian CD single # "Underwater Love" (radio edit) – 4:00 # "Underwater Love" (

Morales Morales is a Spanish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alfredo Morales (born 1990), American footballer * Alvaro Morales (disambiguation), several people * Amado Morales (born 1947), Puerto Rican javelin thrower * Bartolomé Mo ...

Underwater club mix) – 9:30 # "Underwater Love" (Voyager remix) – 5:58 # "Underwater Love" (album version) – 6:46 # "Underwater Love" (Morales Salsoul mix) – 8:18 # "Underwater Love" (Morales reprise) – 5:10 * UK cassette and French CD single # "Underwater Love" (radio edit) – 4:00 # "Underwater Love" (Morales Underwater club mix) – 9:30 * US maxi-CD single # "Underwater Love" (radio edit) – 4:00 # "Underwater Love" (

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols include ...

mix) – 6:28 # "Underwater Love" (

Lionrock Lionrock was a British big beat group, comprising record producer Justin Robertson, MC Buzz B, and producer, engineer, programmer and synthesist Roger Lyons. Lyons replaced recording engineer Mark Stagg in 1995. Their biggest chart success came ...

mix) – 5:40 # "Underwater Love" (Morales Underwater club mix) – 9:30 # "Underwater Love" (Voyager remix) – 5:58 # "Underwater Love" (Morales Salsoul mix) – 8:18 # "Underwater Love" (Morales reprise) – 5:10 # "Underwater Love" (Lionrock instrumental) – 5:40

Charts

Similar music

* '' Slip Into Something More Comfortable'' (2000) by

Kinobe Kinobe is a British music act. It was founded in west London in 1998 by childhood friends Mark Blackburn and Julius Waters. Blackburn departed in 2004, replaced by Dave Pemberton. Chuck Norman replaces Pemberton for their 2017 releases. Kino ...

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite book , first=David , last=Roberts , year=2006 , title=British Hit Singles & Albums , edition=19th , publisher=Guinness World Records Limited , location=London , isbn=1-904994-10-5 , page=510 {{cite web , first=Steffen , last=Hung , url=https://charts.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Smoke+City&titel=Underwater+Love&cat=s , title=Smoke City – Underwater Love , publisher=charts.nz , date= , accessdate=25 April 2012 {{cite web , url=http://www.wjpitch.com/arts-and-entertainment/2011/01/20/song-of-the-week-underwater-love-by-smoke-city/ , title=The Pitch Online: Song of the Week: Underwater Love by Smoke City , publisher=Wjpitch.com , first=Cami , last=Keyani , date=20 January 2011 {{cite web , url=https://vimeo.com/6143315 , title=Smoke City Underwater Love , publisher=

Vimeo Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software as ...

{{cite web , url=http://www.ninamiranda.com , title=Nina Miranda , publisher=NinaMiranda.com , accessdate=12 July 2013 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624174611/http://ninamiranda.com/ , archive-date=June 24, 2013 {{cite magazine , title=Smoke City Underwater Love , magazine=New Musical Express , via=

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

, url=https://scontent-ams3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t1.0-9/11266654_10152761941251851_3283124913489681327_n.jpg?oh=3acb3cbdcbdf82518158360f08818cba&oe=55F6EB6F , date=2 December 1995 1994 songs 1995 debut singles 1997 singles Acid jazz songs Bossa nova songs Jive Records singles Trip hop songs