sentences:  The steel drums on the track are played by keyboardist Cian Ciaran and were added on the spur of the moment after the group saw them "lying around" Real World Studios during recording.Critical reaction was largely positive with the song being named "Single of the Week" in both the "Melody Maker" and "NME", with the latter also listing the song at number 3 in their single of the year list for 1999.The music video for "Northern Lites" was directed by Super Furry Animals and Martin McCarthy and features footage of curling and Irish road bowling although Rhys has blamed the song's failure to chart higher on the fact that it "didn't have a video".