Young Blood (The Naked and Famous song)

"Young Blood"
Single by The Naked and Famous
from the album Passive Me, Aggressive You
Released 7 June 2010
Format Digital download
Genre
Length 3:53
Label Somewhat Damaged
Writer(s) Thomas Powers, Alisa Xayalith, Aaron Short
Producer(s) Thom Powers, Aaron Short
Certification Platinum (RIANZ)
The Naked and Famous singles chronology
"All of This"
(2009)		 "Young Blood"
(2010)		 "Punching in a Dream"
(2010)
Alternative cover
UK and US cover

"Young Blood" is a single by New Zealand band The Naked and Famous, released onto radio in May 2010. It was used in several indent commercials for C4, and received the 2010 Silver Scroll for Song of the Year.

The single was released as a digital download at the iTunes Store on 7 June 2010.[1] "Young Blood" debuted at number one on the New Zealand Singles Chart, on 14 June 2010.[2]

Composition

"Young Blood" is a synth-pop and electro song,[3] and features a buzz-guitar riff.[4] Kevin Harley of BBC Music compared the song to the work of MGMT.[3] According to Godfrey de Grut of NZ Musician, "Young Blood" is set in the key of F#, and follows the chord progression of B–F♯–B–F♯–C♯–B–F♯–B–D♯min–C♯.[5] The theme of "Young Blood" is that of "spirit of youth" and its loss,[5][6] and contains a "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" hook.[5][7]

Critical reception

The song received critical acclaim by music critics. Allmusic's Matt Collar noted "Young Blood" as one of the top tracks from Passive Me, Aggressive You and described it as "layered and shimmering".[8] Tom Cardy from The Dominion Post called it "one of the catchiest indie electro tunes I've heard in years".[9] The New Zealand Herald‍‍ '​‍s Scott Kara labelled "Young Blood" as "an inventive, rousing, and uplifting tune".[7]

On 8 September 2010 "Young Blood" won the APRA Silver Scroll, a New Zealand peer-judged songwriting award. APRA's Anthony Healey stated, "Young Blood is outstanding; it's stroppy, it's youthful and energetic. It makes me want to be eighteen again".[10] At the awards ceremony it was covered by reggae band Three Houses Down.[10] The Naked and Famous said being awarded with the honour was "surreal and intense".[11]

Chart performance

"Young Blood" debuted atop the New Zealand Singles Chart on 14 June 2010,[12] becoming the first time a New Zealand artist debuted at number one in over three years;[13] Matthew Saunoa's "Hold Out" did so in November 2006.[14] The song held the top spot for another week, however on 28 June it was pushed to number two by "California Gurls" by Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg.[15] "Young Blood" fell out of the singles chart in October 2010, having spent eighteen weeks in the chart.[16]

In Australia, "Young Blood" peaked at number twenty-six on the ARIA Singles Chart, while in Austria it appeared for ten weeks on the Ö3 Austria Top 40, reaching number fifty-three. The song made number fifty-nine on the Dutch Mega Single 100, lasting five weeks.[16]

In the United States, the song was nominated as iTunes Store Single of the Week and was available for free of charge download during a week (15–21 March 2011). It was certified Gold by the RIAA, denoting sales of over 500,000 copies.[17]

Young Blood reached number 9 on the Hong Kong charts on 14 January 2012.[18]

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Young Blood" was directed by Joel Kefali and Campbell Hooper of Special Problems.[19]

Covers and use in media

Jessie J covered "Young Blood" for BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge in March 2011.[20] Chiddy Bang remixed it in September 2011.[21] Birdy covered the song on her eponymous debut album Birdy. Her version was featured in the "Moment of Truth" episode of Grey's Anatomy and on Harry's Law at the end of episode "The Contest".[22] A remix was also made by Dutch DJs Tiësto and Hardwell, whose version appears on Tiësto's album Club Life: Volume Two Miami.[23] Machine Gun Kelly sampled Young Blood in his Half Naked & Almost Famous single.

In August 2010, the Israeli clothing company Castro featured "Young Blood" in their shoes commercial and later, on November 2010 the Winter collection advertisement included acoustic cover of the song. In March 2011, Castro used it again in their shoes commercial. With the relaunch of the TV-channel VIVA on 1 January 2011 "Young Blood" gained popularity in Germany and Austria as it is used in the channels' idents and trailers. Recently, the song has been featured in the Strongbow 'Summer Blossom' advert in Australia. The song was also featured on a section of the entertainment news program, E! News in the United States. In Uzbekistan, the song was used in the advertisement of the mobile network operator UCell during May–June 2011. It was also used in Canon camera adverts. It has been used as the theme of a French TV show La Nouvelle Édition from August 29, 2011 (video) to June 2013 (video). This song was played right before the unveiling of the all-new 2013 Nissan Altima at the 2012 New York International Auto Show.

UFC MMA fighter Maurício "Shogun" Rua used it as walk in music at UFC on Fox 4. "Young Blood" was featured in the Disney film, Prom and in its trailer. The song was featured in the pilot of Covert Affairs,[24] in both the first and last episodes of The Almighty Johnsons,[25] and in the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of NBC's Chuck, during a sequence which was called the "best 10 minutes in the show's history" by series creator Josh Schwartz.[26] The song was further featured in the episode "Panic Roommate" of the fourth season of Gossip Girl,[27][28] in the season 3 premiere of TVNZ's Go Girls,[29] and in a promo for the British show Skins. This song was also featured in the third episode of the eleventh season of Degrassi,[30] and again in the twenty-ninth.[31] "Young Blood" was then used in the third episode of MTV's TV series Awkward,[32] and in the pilot of The Secret Circle. It is featured on the season finale of Whitney. The song was featured in Travis Rice's The Art of Flight, a snowboarding film released 7 September 2011.[33] A promo for the second season of the HGTV show Property Brothers features a cut of the song. The song is featured on the FOX telecast of the 2011 Major League Baseball World Series. The song is also featured in the trailer for the movies The Cabin in the Woods and Prom. The song was featured a bit in the Season 11 premiere of American Idol on FOX. The song is featured on the soundtrack for video game SSX.[34] An alternate version of the song with added male vocals is currently being featured in commercials for Trident Gum. This version is known as the Renholder Remix and was used in the soundtrack for Underworld Awakening. The song is featured on Season 1 Episode 1 of TV show Elementary. A remix of the song by Dekade was featured in the 2013 American comedy film 21 & Over. In the Philippines, meanwhile, the song is used as the opening theme song of #SU, a student-oriented magazine TV talk show produced by students of Silliman University in Dumaguete City. The show airs weekly on local cable TV station Fil Products Channel 6.

The use of the song was also featured in Episode 10 of Germany's Next Topmodel, Cycle 6[35]

The song also featured in the 2013 films Carrie and 21 & Over.

Track listing

Digital download
  1. "Young Blood" – 3:52
German CD single & UK 7" vinyl 1[36][37]
  1. "Young Blood" – 3:53
  2. "Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!" – 6:30
UK CD single
  1. "Young Blood" (Radio Edit) – 3:35
  2. "Young Blood" – 3:53
UK 7" vinyl 2[38]
  1. "Young Blood" – 3:53
  2. "Sow" – 4:10
NZ and AU Digital download 2
  1. "Young Blood" (Radio Edit) – 3:34
  2. "Young Blood" (Chiddy Bang Remix) – 3:32
UK and Ireland digital EP[39]
  1. "Young Blood" – 3:54
  2. "Sow" – 4:06
  3. "Young Blood" (David Andrew Sitek Remix) – 3:36
  4. "Young Blood" (Music video) – 3:57

Charts

Chart (2010–12) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart[16] 26
Austrian Singles Chart[16] 53
Canada: Alternative Rock[40] 10
Dutch Single Top 100[16] 18
German Singles Chart[41] 30
New Zealand Singles Chart[16] 1
UK Singles Chart[42] 64
US Alternative Songs[43] 9
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles[44] 14
US Rock Songs[45] 21

Release history

Region Format Date Label
New Zealand[46] Digital download 7 July 2010 The Naked and Famous
Australia[47]
United Kingdom[37] CD single, 7" vinyl 6 September 2010 Neon Gold, Somewhat Damaged, Universal
Austria[48] Digital download 14 November 2010 Somewhat Damaged, Polydor
Denmark[49]
Finland[50]
Germany[51]
Ireland[52]
Italy[53]
Japan[54]
Netherlands[55]
Norway[56]
Sweden[57]
Switzerland[58]
United Kingdom[59]
United States[60]
Germany[36] CD single 18 February 2011 Somewhat Damaged, Universal, Polydor
United Kingdom[38] 7" vinyl 4 March 2011 Somewhat Damaged, Polydor, Universal, Fiction
Ireland[61] Digital download EP 6 March 2011 Somewhat Damaged, Polydor
United Kingdom[39]
Australia[62] Digital download 4 April 2011 Somewhat Damaged
New Zealand[63]

References

  1. ↑ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  2. ↑ "The Naked and Famous – Young Blood". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Harley, Kevin (3 March 2011). "The Naked and Famous Passive Me, Aggressive You Review". BBC Music. BBC. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  4. ↑ Beaumont, Mark (9 March 2011). "Album Review: The Naked and Famous – Passive Me, Aggressive You (Fiction)". NME. IPC Media. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 de Grut, Godfrey (October–November 2010). "X Factory: The Naked and Famous – Young Blood". NZ Musician 15 (9). ISSN 0114-9032.
  6. ↑ Ward, Nick (23 September 2010). "CD Reviews". The Nelson Mail (Fairfax New Zealand). p. 12.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Kara, Scott (9 September 2010). "Album Review: The Naked and Famous Passive Me, Aggressive You". The New Zealand Herald. APN News & Media. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  8. ↑ Collar, Matt. Young Blood (The Naked and Famous song) at AllMusic. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  9. ↑ Cardy, Tom (16 September 2010). "CD Review The Naked and Famous – Passive Me Aggressive You". The Dominion Post. Fairfax New Zealand. Archived from the original on 18 April 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Sundae, Hugh (8 September 2010). "The Naked and Famous win APRA Silver Scroll". The New Zealand Herald. APN News & Media. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  11. ↑ Jones, Bridget; Robinson, Victoria (9 September 2010). "Young Blood wins Silver Scroll". Stuff. Fairfax New Zealand. Archived from the original on 18 April 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  12. ↑ "Top 40 singles (#1725)". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. 14 June 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  13. ↑ One News (8 September 2010). "Silver Scroll winner announced". Television New Zealand. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  14. ↑ "Top 40 singles (#1537)". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. 6 November 2006. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  15. ↑ "Top 40 singles (#1727)". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 "The Naked and Famous – Young Blood". charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  17. ↑ http://www.riaa.com/newsitem.php?content_selector=riaa-news-gold-and-platinum&news_month_filter=10&news_year_filter=2012&id=A2368067-35FF-6B9C-8544-E77469C62D1B&searchterms=the%20naked%20and%20famous&terminclude=&termexact=
  18. ↑ "Hong Kong Charts". Hong Kong Charts. MetroBroadcast. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  19. ↑ "The Naked + Famous". Archived from the original on 18 April 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  20. ↑ "Jessie J Covers The Naked and Famous' 'Young Blood' For BBC Radio 1". Artistdirect. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  21. ↑ Tom and Alex (17 September 2011). "Like A Version: Chiddy Bang - Young Blood". Triple J. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  22. ↑ "Grey's Anatomy "Moment of Truth Music". TV Fanatic. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  23. ↑ Akshay Bhansali (24 April 2012). "Tiesto's Club Life - Volume Two Miami A Tribute To City He Loves". MTV. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  24. ↑ "Covert Affairs Episode Music Guide". USA Network. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  25. ↑ "The Almighty Johnsons - Music". Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  26. ↑ Sepinwall, Alan (2012-03-12). "Chuck - Chuck vs. the Gobbler: The undercover lover". HitFix.com. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
  27. ↑ The Naked And Famous artist spotlight on CW Music page, "Gossip Girl" section.
  28. ↑ TV Fanatic.com "Panic Roommate" episode music guide.
  29. ↑
  30. ↑ "Degrassi Music 3: Young Blood". Much Music. 21 July 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  31. ↑ "Degrassi Music 29: Young Blood". Much Music. 1 September 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  32. ↑ "Awkward. " Songs From the Show " Ep. 103". MTV. 2 August 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  33. ↑ "The Art of Flight Soundtrack". redbullusa.com. 16 September 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  34. ↑ "SSX Soundtrack To Feature Foster The People, Pretty Lights, The Naked And Famous And Many More". EA News. ea.com. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  35. ↑ http://bitshare.com/files/que9yuyl/Germanys.Next.Topmodel.S06E10.German.WS.dTV.XviD-HOLiDAY.avi.html
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 "Young Blood (2-Track) [Single]". Amazon.de. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 "Neon Gold International -Merchandise". Neon Gold. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 "Young Blood [7" VINYL] [Single, Maxi]". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 "Young Blood – EP". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  40. ↑ Canadian Active Rock & Alt Rock Chart Archive: Alternative Rock - July 12, 2011
  41. ↑ "charts.de". charts.de. 2011-03-14. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
  42. ↑ "2011-03-12 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive". Official Charts. 2011-03-12. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
  43. ↑ "Alternative Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 9 April 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  44. ↑ "Bubbling Under Hot 100 – Issue Date: 2012-09-08". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on 2012-09-19. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  45. ↑ "Rock Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 9 April 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  46. ↑ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  47. ↑ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  48. ↑ "Young Blood – Single" (in German). iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  49. ↑ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  50. ↑ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  51. ↑ "Young Blood – Single" (in German). iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  52. ↑ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  53. ↑ "Young Blood – Single" (in Italian). iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  54. ↑ "Young Blood – Single" (in Japanese). iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  55. ↑ "Young Blood – Single" (in Dutch). iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  56. ↑ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  57. ↑ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  58. ↑ "Young Blood – Single" (in German). iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  59. ↑ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  60. ↑ "Young Blood". Amazon.com. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  61. ↑ "Young Blood – EP". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  62. ↑ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  63. ↑ "Young Blood – Single". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 28 June 2011.

External links

Preceded by
"Airplanes" by B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams		 New Zealand Singles Chart number-one single
14 June 2010 – 21 June 2010 		Succeeded by
"California Gurls" by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg