"Eez-eh" (stylised as "eez-eh") is a song by English rock band
Kasabian
Kasabian ( ) are an English rock band formed in Leicester in 1997 by lead vocalist Tom Meighan, guitarist and occasional vocalist Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist Chris Karloff, and bassist Chris Edwards. Drummer Ian Matthews joined in 2004. Ka ...
from their fifth studio album, ''
48:13''. The song was released as the lead single to promote the album
on 29 April 2014.
Composition
The single embraces a slight change in style for Kasabian, with the track resembling electronic dance music – more so than their previous work. In an interview, Sergio Pizzorno revealed that the song's production was inspired by
Giorgio Moroder
Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the " Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance music. His work with synthesizers had ...
, who had said 120BPM was a 'magic tempo'. The song title is derived from the pronunciation of the word 'easy' in a
Leicester accent. Frontman Tom Meighan described the song as a "working class anthem" and said he would like the song to have the same effect on people as "
Born Slippy
"Born Slippy .NUXX" is a song by British electronic music group Underworld. It was first released as the B-side to "Born Slippy", in May 1995. The fragmented lyrics, by vocalist Karl Hyde, describe the perspective of an alcoholic.
After it wa ...
", a well-known 1996 number two single by electronic group
Underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld ...
.
Commenting on the song's lyrics – which include lines such as "I've got the feeling that I'm gonna keep you up all night – Pizzorno said: "It's more a conversation that me and Tom
eighanmight have at five or six in the morning. There have been so many nights in hotel rooms where me and Tom will stay up all night talking and it's about that."
The lyric "Every one's on bugle/Now we're being watched by
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
" is often edited on some versions, such as the official music video and radio edit because 'bugle' is a slang term for
cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...
; it is replaced with the previous line "Every day is brutal".
Promotion and release
The group performed "Eez-eh" along with two other tracks from ''48:13'' – "Bumblebeee" and "Stevie" – on ''
Later... with Jools Holland'' on 13 May 2014. After being released in April throughout Europe and in Australia, the single was released in the United Kingdom on 1 June 2014.
A second version of the single, containing the B-side "Beanz", was released digitally on 3 June 2014.
The band also performed the single on ''
The Graham Norton Show
''The Graham Norton Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Graham Norton. It was initially broadcast on BBC Two, from 22 February 2007, before moving to BBC One in October 2009. It currently airs on Friday evenings, with Norton s ...
'' on 13 June 2014. The band also performed the track at
Glastonbury Festival 2014
The 2014 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was held between 25 and 29 June 2014.
Ticket sales
Initially a small selection of tickets were sold for people who wished to travel by coach. A few days later the standard tickets wer ...
. Live performances of the track are usually extended.
Reception
According to ''
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 ...
'' magazine, the song is "pure '90s
rave." Rhian Daly also noted that the track is "far from being a serious take on the world's issues," and Kasabian keeps things "tongue-in-cheek, cartoon-like and – most importantly – fun."
Antiquiet.com described the song as "without a doubt the most electronic-tinged release since the band's breakthrough
self-titled first album."
Music video
A music video for the song was released onto
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
on 29 April 2014. It was directed by
Aitor Throup
Aitor Throup (born 1980, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an artist, designer and creative director.
Throup is best known for his menswear label 'New Object Research' which has shown at London Fashion Week Men's. Throup's G-Star Raw Research line is ...
, who also designs sets for live shows and artwork.
The video features
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used b ...
actress
Noomi Rapace
Noomi Rapace (; ; born 28 December 1979) is a Swedish actress.Karen Olsson, ''The New York Times Magazine'', 27 May 2012, p. 26. She achieved international fame with her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish film adaptations of the ''Mil ...
.
The video features the band dancing and posing in front of a large karaoke screen showing the lyrics of the song. Segments of the video see the members jumping up and down in a line, ornaments of various animals and frontman Tom Meighan spitting milk into the lens of the camera. Sergio Pizzorno appears both wearing a '48:13' T-shirt and without a shirt, often also wearing large foam hands.
Bassist
Chris Edwards also appears, at one stage wearing a
Groucho Marx disguise and smoking a cigar, and drummer
Ian Matthews appears, wearing a
snapback with pipes connected to his mouth.
Track listing
Personnel
Kasabian
* Tom Meighan – lead vocals
* Sergio Pizzorno – co-lead vocals, synthesizers, programming, percussion
* Chris Edwards – bass guitar
* Ian Matthews – drums
Additional personnel
* Tim Carter – guitar
Charts
Certifications
Release history
References
{{authority control
2014 singles
2014 songs
Kasabian songs
Songs written by Sergio Pizzorno
Black-and-white music videos