“The Box” by Orbital

Orbital's "The Box" came off their 1996 album In Sides, and it began with a dream that never finished. Paul Hartnoll told the NME he kept dreaming of stumbling on a mysterious wooden box somewhere in the Welsh countryside, and every time his hands reached the lid he woke up, the contents forever a mystery. He and Phil Hartnoll turned that itch into music.

On the album it comes in two halves, a slow, brooding first part and a quicker, brighter second, with harpsichord threading through like a clue in a mystery. The single spun it out into four untitled parts: an edit of the album take used for the video, two new pieces built from the same melody, harpsichord and percussion, and a closing vocal version featuring Grant Fulton and Alison Goldfrapp. It reached 11 on the UK Singles Chart.

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