"Deadcrush" is a song by British

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

Alt-J Alt-J (stylised as alt-J, real name Δ) are an English indie rock band formed in 2007 in Leeds. Their lineup includes Joe Newman (guitar/lead vocals), Thom Sonny Green (drums), Gus Unger-Hamilton (keyboards/vocals), and formerly Gwil Sainsbury ...

. It is the fifth track and fourth single from their third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, ''

Relaxer A relaxer is a type of lotion or cream generally used by people with tight curls or very curly hair which makes hair easier to hair straightening, straighten by chemically "relaxing" the natural curls. The active agent is usually a strong alkali, ...

'', and was released as a digital single on 12 July 2017 by

Infectious Music Infectious Music is an independent record label owned by BMG, whose bands have included Alt-J, Ash and the Subways. History Infectious Music was established in 1993 as Infectious Records by former Zerra One drummer Korda Marshall after lea ...

and

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. The song was written by Joe Newman, Gus Unger-Hamiltion, and

Thom Sonny Green Thomas Stuart Green (born 5 November 1985), known professionally as Thom Sonny Green, is an English drummer and electronic music producer. Green attended Leeds University, where he met the musicians with whom he would found the band Alt-J in ...

and produced by

Charlie Andrew Charles Andrew is a British record producer, mixer and songwriter. He is best known for his work with indie band Alt-J. In 2013 he was awarded 'Breakthrough Producer of the Year' by his peers at Music Producers Guild awards, in 2016 he won th ...

. The song's title is based on a game the band played where they asked the question, "What historical figure would I want to take on a date if she were alive today?", and so the name "Deadcrush" is based on someone's "dead crush". It features vocals from

Ellie Rowsell Ellie Rowsell (born Ellen Ciara Rowsell, 19 July 1992) is an English singer and musician from North London. She is the lead vocalist and guitarist of the Mercury Prize winning indie rock band Wolf Alice. She has a soprano voice. Early life Row ...

Wolf Alice Wolf Alice are a Rock music, rock band from London. Formed in 2010 as an acoustic duo made up of singer Ellie Rowsell and guitarist Joff Oddie, Wolf Alice have also featured bassist Theo Ellis and drummer Joel Amey since 2012. Wolf Alice playe ...

. The song was also featured in the soundtrack for ''

FIFA 18 ''FIFA 18'' is a association football, football simulation video game, simulation video game developed and published by Electronic Arts and released worldwide on 29 September 2017 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, ...

''.

Composition and lyrics

In an interview with

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, the band said:

Music video

A music video for the song was released on 12 July 2017. It was directed by Young Replicant, who also directed the music video for " 3WW". It features the band's "dead crushes":

Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet and author. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for '' The Colossus and Other Poems'' (1960), '' Ariel'' (1965), a ...

Lee Miller Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, Lady Penrose (April 23, 1907 – July 21, 1977), was an American photographer and photojournalist. Miller was a fashion model in New York City in the 1920s before going to Paris, becoming a fashion and fine-art pho ...

, and

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the Wives of Henry VIII, second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and execution, by beheading ...

teaming up in a post-apocalyptic world.

Official video

The choreography was designed by Darcy Wallace, performed by Leah Marojević, Alana Everett and Natalia Iwaniec.

Live performances

The band performed "Deadcrush" at the 2017

Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...

ceremony at the

Eventim Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 14 September 2017. ''Relaxer'' was shortlisted for the prize.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

Alt-J

*Joe Newman – guitar, vocals *Gus Unger-Hamilton – keyboards, vocals *

– drums, percussion, programming

Additional musicians

London Metropolitan Orchestra The urban culture of London concerns the music, museums, festivals, and lifestyle within London, the capital city of the United Kingdom. The city is known for its theatre quarter, and its West End of London, West End theatre district has given ...

– strings *

– vocals

Technical

*Charlie Andrew – production, mixing, engineering, programming *Brett Cox – engineering *Jay Pocknell - engineering *Stefano Civetta – assistant engineering *Paul Pritchard – assistant engineering *Graeme Baldwin – assistant engineering *Dick Beetham – mastering

Artwork and design

Osamu Sato is a Japanese digital artist, video game developer, photographer, and composer. His first work was the ambient music album, ''Objectless'' (1983). His first work in the video game industry was '' Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong Nou'', whi ...

Charts

Certifications

''Deadcrushed''

Four remixes of "Deadcrush", by

Spike Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & the Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed Sheeran ...

, Ben de Vries, Lea Porcelain, and

Salute A salute is usually a formal hand gesture or other action used to display respect in military situations. Salutes are primarily associated with the military and law enforcement, but many civilian organizations, such as Girl Guides, Boy Sc ...

, were individually released by Alt-J as digital singles in August 2017. A collection of the remix singles, excluding the remix by

, was released as an EP on 27 September 2017 with additional remixes by

Damian Lazarus Damian Lazarus is a British DJ and electronic music producer. He released his first album ''Smoke the Monster Out'' in May 2009, after two years of writing content for it. Discography Albums *''Smoke the Monster Out'', 2009. *'' Fabric 54'', Fabr ...

, Otzeki, Miro Shot, and Vesica.

References

{{authority control 2017 singles Alt-J songs 2017 songs Infectious Music singles Atlantic Records singles Songs written by Thom Sonny Green