“Animal” by Miike Snow

"Animal" was the first single from Miike Snow's self-titled 2009 debut, released that February on Columbia and Downtown, and it introduced the Swedish indie pop band with horns and staccato synthesizers wrapped around a hook that won't let go. Andrew Wyatt, Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg wrote it with Henrik Jonback, and the band produced it themselves, mixing it with Anders Hvenare.

Wyatt, who sings lead, has kept its meaning deliberately open: it can be heard as a song about addiction, raw instinct, or the frustration of a world that won't give you what you need. Critics praised how catchy it was, and it later went platinum in the US. Two videos followed, one by Sebastian Mlynarski with the band in animal masks and one by Anthony Dickenson built from projections, animation and performance footage.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.