"Young Blood" is a synth-pop song,[1] featuring a buzz-guitar riff.[2] Kevin Harley of BBC Music compared the song to the work of MGMT.[1] According to Godfrey de Grut of NZ Musician, "Young Blood" is set in the key of F#, and follows the chord progression of B–F♯–B–F♯–C♯–B–F♯–B–D♯min–C♯.[3] The theme of "Young Blood" is that of "spirit of youth" and its loss,[3][4] and contains a "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" hook.[3][5]
Critical reception
The song received critical acclaim by music critics. AllMusic's Matt Collar noted "Young Blood" as one of the top tracks from Passive Me, Aggressive You and described it as "layered and shimmering".[6] Tom Cardy from The Dominion Post called it "one of the catchiest indie electro tunes I've heard in years".[7]The New Zealand Herald's Scott Kara labelled "Young Blood" as "an inventive, rousing, and uplifting tune".[5]
On 8 September 2010 "Young Blood" won the APRA Silver Scroll, a New Zealand peer-judged songwriting award. APRA's Anthony Healey stated, "Young Blood is outstanding; it's stroppy, it's youthful and energetic. It makes me want to be eighteen again".[8] At the awards ceremony it was covered by reggae band Three Houses Down.[8] The Naked and Famous said being awarded with the honour was "surreal and intense".[9]
Chart performance
"Young Blood" debuted atop the New Zealand Singles Chart on 14 June 2010,[10] becoming the first time a New Zealand artist debuted at number one in over three years;[11]Matthew Saunoa's "Hold Out" did so in November 2006.[12] The song held the top spot for another week, however on 28 June it was pushed to number two by "California Gurls" by Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg.[13] "Young Blood" fell out of the singles chart in October 2010, having spent 18 weeks on the chart.[10]
In Australia, "Young Blood" peaked at number 26 on the ARIA Singles Chart, while in Austria it remained on the Ö3 Austria Top 40 for 10 weeks, reaching number 53. The song peaked at number 59 on the Dutch Single Top 100 chart, spending five weeks on the chart.[10]
In the United States, the song was featured as iTunes Store Single of the Week and was available for free of charge download during the week of 15–21 March 2011. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on 10 December 2013, denoting sales in excess of one million copies.[14]
Music video
The accompanying music video for "Young Blood" was directed by Joel Kefali and Campbell Hooper of Special Problems.[15]
In August 2010, the Israeli clothing company Castro featured "Young Blood" in their shoes commercial and later, in November 2010 the Winter collection advertisement included acoustic cover of the song.
With the relaunch of the television channel Viva on 1 January 2011, "Young Blood" gained popularity in Germany and Austria as it is used in the channels' idents and trailers. On 31 January 2011, it was used in the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of NBC's Chuck, during a sequence which was called the "best 10 minutes in the show's history" by series creator Josh Schwartz.[20] In March 2011, Castro used it again in their shoes commercial. In Uzbekistan, the song was used in the advertisement of the mobile network operator UCell during May and June 2011.
The song was featured in the Strongbow 'Summer Blossom' advert in Australia. It was also used in Canon camera adverts. It was used as the theme of the French television series La Nouvelle Édition (2011–2013). This song was played right before the unveiling of the all-new 2013 Nissan Altima at the 2012 New York International Auto Show.[citation needed]UFCMMA fighter Maurício "Shogun" Rua used it as walk in music at UFC on Fox 4. "Young Blood" was featured in the Disney film Prom and in its trailer. The song was featured in the pilot of Covert Affairs,[21] in both the first and last episodes of The Almighty Johnsons.[22] The song was further featured in the episode "Panic Roommate" of the fourth season of Gossip Girl,[23][24] in the season 3 premiere of TVNZ's Go Girls,[25] and in a promo for the British show Skins. "Young Blood" was then used in the third episode of MTV's TV series Awkward,[26] and in the pilot of The Secret Circle.[27] It was also used in the pilot episode of CBS's TV show Elementary. It is featured on the season finale of Whitney. The song was featured in Travis Rice's The Art of Flight, a snowboarding film released 7 September 2011.[28] A promo for the second season of the HGTV show Property Brothers features a cut of the song. The song is featured on the FOX telecast of the 2011 Major League Baseball World Series. The song is also featured in the trailer for the movies The Cabin in the Woods and Prom. The song was featured a bit in the Season 11 premiere of American Idol. The song is featured on the soundtrack for video game SSX.[29] An alternate version of the song with a slower tempo is currently being featured in commercials for Trident Gum. This version is known as the Renholder Remix and was used in the soundtrack for Underworld: Awakening. A remix of the song by Dekade was featured in the 2013 American comedy film 21 & Over. In the Philippines, the song is used as the opening theme song of #SU, a student-oriented magazine TV talk show produced by students of Silliman University in Dumaguete, the show airs weekly on local cable TV station Fil Products Channel 6. This song was also used during the Fox 2011-2012 television schedule promo. It was featured in episode 10 of Germany's Next Topmodel, Cycle 6 and in the 2013 films Carrie and 21 & Over.
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
^Jones, Bridget; Robinson, Victoria (9 September 2010). "Young Blood wins Silver Scroll". Stuff. Fairfax New Zealand. Archived from the original on 11 September 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
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