Cirrus (song)

For the Pink Floyd song, see Cirrus Minor (song).

"Cirrus" is a 2013 instrumental performed, written and produced by British musician, producer and DJ Bonobo. Released as the first single from his fifth studio album The North Borders, the song did not chart but in 2014 the song was featured in a Vodafone advert. The song premiered on Giles Peterson's BBC Radio 6 show on 19 January 2013. It was released on 1 April 2013 worldwide and on 2 April 2013 in North America.

"Cirrus"
CD cover art
Single by Bonobo
from the album The North Borders
Released	2013
Genre	Instrumental
Length	5:49[1]
Label	Ninja Tune[2]
Songwriter(s)	Bonobo[2]
Producer(s)	Bonobo[2]
Audio sample
"Cirrus" file help

Composition

"Cirrus" was performed, written and produced by Bonobo.^[2] The song contains complicated drum patterns and live instrumentation.^[3]

Release and reception

The song was released as the first single from his fifth studio album The North Borders.^[1] It premiered on Gilles Peterson's BBC Radio 6 show on 19 January 2013.^[4] The track was released on 1 April 2013 worldwide and on 2 April 2013 in North America.^[5] Although the song did not chart, the song was featured in a Vodafone advert in 2014.^[6] The song has also appeared in ads for Google's DevArt initiative and on AMC's Halt and Catch Fire

The song has been met with positive critical reception. A writer for Fact magazine called the track "a twinkling slice of fairy-light house", noting it to be "delicate" while also containing a "slightly steelier edge" that deviates from his style.^[7] Jason Grishkoff from Indie Shuffle found the song "pursuing the same sound" of his previous four albums, characterizing it as "absolutely perfect" for San Francisco rain.^[8] Phillip Yung of Earmilk stated the track "immediately" gives the listener "a spacey organic feel" and found the slide bass during the middle to give it "much anticipated weight",^[9] while Amy Heaton of Kaltblut magazine wrote the song was "the perfect soundtrack" to come out of hibernation to, calling it "one big loop of elation".^[10]

Music video

The music video manipulates footage from the 1962 film, American Thrift (opening title pictured).

A music video was created for the song by Cyriak on 24 January 2013.^[11] The video manipulates footage from American Thrift, a public domain film from 1962 depicting American consumerism.^[10][12][13] Cyriak borrowed inspiration from Zbigniew Rybczyński's film Tango,^[14] and obtained the film through the Prelinger Archives through the Internet Archive, calling it "a goldmine for us video artists."^[12] The video is 3:23 in length, and, as of June 2020^[update], has been viewed over 15 million times on YouTube.^[15]

Critical reception for the video has been positive; Kimber Streams of The Verge called it "beautifully surreal",^[5] whereas Oli Kruscher of DropoutUK said that it "would slot smoothly into Monty Python's world [and] will take you on a mind-bending trip".^[3] Andrew Tarantola of Gizmodo reckoned it would be "what doing acid with the Beav would be like".^[16]

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[17]	Silver	200,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Jeffries, David. "Review: The North Borders". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
2. The North Borders (booklet). Bonobo. London: Ninja Tune. 2013.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
3. Kuscher, Oli (25 January 2013). "Video: Bonobo 'Cirrus'". DropoutUK. London. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
4. Ruff, Megan Jean (January 2014). "Bonobo – 'Cirrus'". House of Balloons. London. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
5. Streams, Kimber (26 January 2013). "Animation and music collide in 'Cirrus,' Bonobo and Cyriak's incredibly trippy music video". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
6. Staff writer "Paul" (20 January 2014). "Vodafone – Winter Sale". United Kingdom: TV Ad Music. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
7. "Bonobo drops new single (plus probable album countdown)". Fact. United Kingdom: The Vinyl Factory. 23 January 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
8. Grishkoff, Jason (24 January 2013). "What's so good?". Indie Shuffle. Townsquare Media. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
9. Yung, Phillip (24 January 2014). "Bonobo – 'Cirrus' [Audio + Video]". Earmilk. Queens. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
10. Heaton, Amy (20 May 2013). "Bonobo – Cirrus!". Kaltblut Magazine. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
11. Bonobo (1 March 2013). "Cirrus Video". Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
12. Cyriak (26 February 2013). "Bonobo Cirrus Official Video (2013)". San Francisco, California: Internet Archive. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
13. Cone, Justin (28 January 2013). "Cyriak: Bonobo 'Cirrus'". Motionagrapher. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
14. Holmes, Kevin (28 January 2013). "Cyriak's Video For Bonobo's 'Cirrus' Is A Cascading Visual Mantra". The Creators Project. Montreal: Vice Media. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
15. Bonobo (24 January 2013). "Bonobo: Cirrus [Official Video]". San Bruno, California: YouTube. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
16. Tarantola, Andrew (29 January 2013). "Bonobo: Cirrus". Gizmodo. Gawker Media. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
17. "British single certifications – Bonobo – Cirrus". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2 September 2024.