 = 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 Ejstes 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 Törnqvist is credited for playing the drums , while David Lindberg , Jonathan Lundberg and Claes Malmberg played the military drums . Swedish musician Gustav Ejstes 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 , Axtone 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 Genuske 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 snaggy 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 Genuske of The Huffington Post stated that it lacked a plotline , but praised its production . Tom Breihan of Stereogum called it " slapsticky 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 = = 
 
 
 