| "Paddling Out" | ||||
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| Single by Miike Snow | ||||
| from the album Happy to You | ||||
| Released | 23 January 2012 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:41 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Miike Snow | |||
| Miike Snow singles chronology | ||||
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"Paddling Out" is a song by Swedish indie pop band Miike Snow from their second studio album, Happy to You (2012). It was released as the album's lead single on 23 January 2012 through Columbia, Downtown and Universal Republic. Written and produced by the band, the song was recorded in a studio previously occupied by Swedish pop group ABBA, which influenced its sound. Band member Pontus Winnberg dubbed the track an homage to dance floor disco. Musically, "Paddling Out" is a piano-driven electropop and house song with disco, Italo house and acid jazz elements, backed by a four on the floor beat.
"Paddling Out" received positive reviews from music critics, some of whom praised its dance production and hailed it as one of the best tracks on Happy to You. Commercially, the release is among the band's most successful singles. It achieved its highest national peak position on the Dutch Top 40 at number 32. It also became the band's fourth consecutive entry on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 90. Elsewhere, it managed to enter the Scottish singles chart and the Flemish Ultratip chart.
The single's accompanying music video was directed by Andreas Nilsson, who created the concept after discussing genetic engineering and surveillance with the band. The visual tells the story of a man who is abducted and transformed into a "Perfect Human" by a group of childlike aliens dressed in Victorian fashion. The story continued in the video for Happy to You's follow-up single "The Wave" and concluded with the album's third single "Pretender". Miike Snow has performed live renditions of "Paddling Out" on several occasions, including Late Show with David Letterman and a session for BBC Radio 1.