text: the wave ( miike snow song ) " the wave " is a song performed by swedish indie pop band miike snow . it was released as the second single from the band 's second studio album happy to you ( 2012 ) on 14 may 2012 , through columbia records . the song was written and produced by the band . musically , " the wave " is an electropop song with marching band influences and autoharp , military drum and piano instrumentation . it features swedish musician gustav on autoharp and the swedish army drum corps on military drums . the song received generally positive reviews from music critics , who commended its catchiness and musical direction . however , some critics were divided regarding lead singer andrew wyatt 's falsetto vocals . the single failed to match the commercial performance of happy to you 's lead single " paddling out " ; it only charted on the flemish ultratip chart at number 43 . andreas nilsson directed the single 's accompanying music video , the second part in a continuous story that began in the " paddling out " video . background and release " the wave " was written and produced by miike snow 's three members : christian karlsson , pontus winnberg and andrew wyatt . the song was recorded alongside the rest of their second studio album happy to you ( 2012 ) during the second half of 2011 . the band had more " creative freedom " while making the album , compared to their 2009 self - titled debut album . they felt they could " plan the process more " , which included inviting the swedish army drum corps to play military drums on several tracks , such as " the wave " . karlsson told billboard that his favorite part of the song occurs during the second verse , in which all band members are hitting the drums simultaneously . " we hit anything we could hit at the same time ... and it sounded kind of cool " , he said . nils is credited for playing the drums , while david lindberg , jonathan lundberg and claes played the military drums . swedish musician gustav of band dungen played the autoharp , and the band provided additional instruments , arrangement and programming . niklas flyckt mixed the track at robotberget , miike snow 's own studio in stockholm , sweden . the song was selected as the second single from happy to you . initially , records released thomas gold 's remix exclusively on the online music store beatport on 14 may 2012 . a mere week later , a digital extended play ( ep ) was released in europe through columbia records . the release features the radio edit of the original song and remixes by gold , brodinski and style of eye . the ep was released in the united states on 12 june 2012 , through universal republic and downtown records . prior to the release of both their second album and single , the band announced on february 2012 that they were going to play two uk shows in may : manchester 's hmv ritz on may 30 and london 's o2 academy brixton on may 31 . for their show at the o2 academy brixton , the band launched an interactive video of their performance of " the wave " in which viewers could choose from where in the venue they could experience the show . on september 15 , 2012 , karlsson and winnberg were guests on bbc radio 1 's essential mix in which they premiered exclusive new remixes of their songs . composition " the wave " is a piano - based electropop piece with a " marching band vibe " . chris schulz of the new zealand herald described it as an " electro - anthem " with a " skittery dubstep throb " . instrumentation is provided by an autoharp , drums , handclaps , military drums , percussion and a piano . in an interview for complex , wyatt said that the song is built in " tsunami form " , stating that " the real pay - off " does not come until the final refrain . according to critic josh modell of spin , the song " dips its toes in the kind of brit - rock purveyed by elbow but mixes in some organic , tribal fun à la yeasayer " . wyatt sings with falsetto vocals , which chris martins of the a.v. club thought recalled a " sad - faced " peter gabriel . in the chorus , wyatt sings , " my love won 't be saved / we 'll all be staring at the wave " . winnberg told billboard that " the wave " " kind of sums up a lot what miike snow is about " . reception critical reception of " the wave " was generally positive . adam markovitz of entertainment weekly named it one of the best tracks on happy to you , while will salmon of clash and amber of the huffington post called it a standout . exclaim ! ' s ashley hampson deemed it " incredibly catchy " , writing that it " capitalize [ s ] on the falsetto musings of vocalist andrew wyatt " . andy baber of musicomh described the track as " much more like the miike snow that many came to know and love " . the writer praised the piano and marching drums for " giving the song a sense of direction that the opener lacked " . caroline sullivan , writing for the guardian , commented that " a martial beat , contrastingly languid vocals and a hookline give ' the wave ' a toothsome kick " , and slant magazine 's kevin liedel wrote that the beat " succeeds " . chris schulz of the new zealand herald said that the song , alongside the album tracks " paddling out " and " bavarian # 1 ( say you will ) " , " will swirl around in your head for days and demand repeat plays " . spin 's josh modell named it a highlight of the album ; he wrote that if the album as a whole sounded like " the wave " , " it could fill arenas " . chris martins of the a.v. club wrote , " though wyatt 's vocals recall a sad - faced peter gabriel , the song is steeped in the kind of effervescent magic that makes lykke li and peter bjorn and john stars in their own right . " evan sawdey of popmatters was critical of wyatt 's vocal performance ; he wrote that " we really get a sense of how wyatt 's voice hinders the group " . he said that the singer intones the lyrics " somewhat abstractly , but with absolutely no sense of gravity to be found in his voice at all " . " the wave " only charted on the flemish ultratip chart in belgium ; it debuted at number 84 in the issue dated 30 june 2012 . the following week , the single rose 12 positions to number 72 , and to number 54 the next . in the issue dated 28 july 2012 , its fifth and final week on the chart , it obtained its peak position of number 43 . music video andreas nilsson directed the music video for " the wave " , a continuation of the video for happy to you 's lead single " paddling out " . picking up where the first part left of , the video follows jean noel , a human man who has received plastic surgery from aliens to be transformed into the " perfect specimen " . in an interview for the creators project , nilsson explained how the videos were conceptualized : " the concept of this was born after long evenings of me and the band talking about gene technology in contemporary science . we share a mutual excitement in what 's happening on the medical scene right now . " " the wave " was filmed before " paddling out " , although the latter was released first . wyatt explained to billboard , " we really liked [ director ] andreas 's images and i think they go together in a way that feels truthful with what we do ... and you can read into it in different ways . " the video for " the wave " begins with the aliens ' spaceship crashing to earth . the camera then hovers over a playground where dozens of children appear to be dead . several policemen arrive at the scene and begin to remove the bodies by putting them in wheelbarrows . meanwhile , jean noel is seen running on a desert road . the policemen then begin to dig graves for the corpses . jean noel then spots another specimen who looks just like him and the two begin to run . they are soon joined by more specimens before arriving at the playground . by chanting at the policemen , the specimens appear to mind control them into dance . jean noel continues to run and stops when he sees the crashed spaceship . the video ends with the band 's jackalope logo . the video was made available for download through the itunes store on 13 march 2012 , in conjunction with the digital release of happy to you . it later premiered on youtube on 14 march 2012 . it received generally positive reviews . amber of the huffington post stated that it lacked a plotline , but praised its production . tom breihan of stereogum called it " absurdism " and wrote , " i don 't think it 's supposed to be depressing , but it totally is . " track listings beatport remix download " the wave " ( thomas gold remix ) – 6 : 35 digital ep " the wave " ( radio edit ) – 3 : 36 " the wave " ( thomas gold mix ) – 6 : 35 " the wave " ( brodinski remix ) – 5 : 00 " the wave " ( style of eye remix ) – 5 : 01 credits and personnel credits are adapted from the happy to you liner notes . charts release history