"Night Is Young"
Single by Nelly Furtado
from the album The Best of Nelly Furtado
ReleasedOctober 12, 2010 (2010-10-12)
RecordedInstrument Zoo (Miami, Florida)
GenreDance-pop
Length3:32
LabelGeffen
Songwriter(s)Nelly Furtado, Salaam Remi, Hernst Bellevue
Producer(s)Salaam Remi, StayBent Krunk-a-Delic
Nelly Furtado singles chronology
"Hot-n-Fun"
(2010) 		"Night Is Young"
(2010) 		"Is Anybody Out There?"
(2012)
Music video
"Night Is Young" on YouTube

"Night Is Young" is a song by Canadian recording artist Nelly Furtado. It was written by Furtado, Salaam Remi and StayBent Krunk-a-Delic, and produced by the latter pair for Furtado's greatest hits compilation album, The Best of Nelly Furtado (2010). The song follows a dance and electronic style, which Furtado said that she is happy with because she never had a straightforward dance-pop song. The lyrics to the song were written by Furtado, who said it is "not necessarily a love song" but is about "having a good time and enjoying life."

The song premiered on BBC Radio 1 on October 3, 2010, and was released for digital downloading on October 12, 2010. The song itself received positive critical reception. It was described as being a "feel good dance-pop" song and for having a "having a rather infectious beat and a great sing-along chorus." The song was most successful in Slovakia, peaking at number seven on its charts. It also reached the top twenty on the Canadian Hot 100 and was moderately successful elsewhere, where it charted. The music video for the song was directed by Alan Ferguson and was filmed for two days in the downtown area of Toronto in Canada.

Background and writing

"Night Is Young" was written by Nelly Furtado, Salaam Remi and StayBent Krunk-a-Delic, and produced by the latter pair.[1] It was one of two songs that had not been properly finished and had leaked onto the internet. In response to the leaks, Furtado said that she decided to "finish them and put them out properly on the greatest hits album." In an interview with Beatweek, Furtado said that a conversation between her and a friend about the "past, present & future" is what inspired the concept of the song.[2] Furtado said that the song is not necessarily a love song, adding that it is about relationships in many different forms [...] and having a good time and enjoying life.[3] Furtado said that she was happy with the song because she never had a "straightforward song that has been dance-pop." She cited "[I]t’s definitely a pop track, but it’s obviously quite a high BPM. I think it’s 130 or something. It’s a really fast song." When writing the song, Furtado said that it started out as a poem before she presented the lyrics to Salaam Remi. She recalled, "I wrote all the lyrics and then I came to the studio and Salaam had this really great beat."[2] It was mixed by Robert Orton, and recorded by Franklin Socorro and Gleyder Disla at Instrument Zoo studio in Miami, Florida.[1]

Critical reception

Amar Toor of AOL Radio characterized the song as "electrically charged pulse that persists from jolting start to glorious finish."[4] Digital Spy's Nick Levine gave the song 4 out of 5 stars, calling it a "feel good dance-pop" song. Levine also commended Furtado's vocals, saying that her "ever-distinctive vocals and a chorus as stealthily catchy as a self-mutating virus."[5] About.com described the song as "having a rather infectious beat and a great sing-along chorus."[6] Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine described the song as a "four-four stomp, swirling electronic effects, and club-and-party lyrics." He also mentioned that the song "signals another outward shift in Furtado's style."[7]

Commercial performance

"Night Is Young" was most commercially successful in Slovakia, peaking at number seven in its sixth week on the Radio Top 100 chart.[8] The song was a commercial failure in Austria, debuting on the charts at number 72. It then peaked at number 69 the next week and fell off the charts the following week after that.[9] "Night Is Young" was moderately successful in the Czech Republic, entering the charts at number 37 and peaking at number 36 two weeks later. The song spent three more weeks on the chart before dropping out at number 54.[10]

Music video

The music video for "Night Is Young" was directed by Alan Ferguson and filmed in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada on the days of October 13 and 14 in 2010.[11][12] Fefe Dobson appears in the video, playing a DJ.[13] The video begins with Furtado conducting a choir. During this, a male and female member of the choir look at each other while performing. For the video shoot, fans of Furtado were cast to be featured as cyclists, dancers and party-goers.[11] After the choir performs, Furtado and the members of the choir, including the night cyclists, dancers, skaters and young people are seen going to a party. At the end of the video, the male and female, previously seen at the beginning of the video, kiss as the clip ends.[14]

Other versions

Furtado has recorded a live acoustic version of "Night Is Young" for Walmart Soundcheck, and a video was recorded and released.[15] A remix was released, which has been played on BBC Radio 1Xtra, and was produced by Sketch iz Dead. It features grime recording artist Wiley.[16] A remix EP of "Night Is Young" has been released on iTunes. The remixes were produced by Burns and Manhattan Clique.[17] In early January, remixes produced by Jamaican producer The Wizard were released, entitled, "Night Is Young (Psychadelic Remix)" and "Night Is Young (Drum Groove Remix)".[18]

Formats and track listings

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of The Best of Nelly Furtado.[1]

Charts

Chart (2010–11) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[19] 69
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[20] 10
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Wallonia)[21] 32
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[22] 20
Canada AC (Billboard)[23] 44
Canada CHR/Top 40 (Billboard)[24] 13
Canada Hot AC (Billboard)[25] 9
Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100)[26] 36
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[27] 33
Polish Dance Chart (ZPAV)[28] 41
Portugal (Portugal Digital Songs)[29] 9
Russia (Top Hit Weekly Audience Choice)[30] 69
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[31] 7

Release history

Country Date Format Label Ref.
United States October 19, 2010 Digital download Geffen [32]
November 9, 2010 Digital download (The Remixes) [33]
United Kingdom December 5, 2010 Digital download (UK Version) Polydor [34]
Digital download (UK Remixes Version) [35]
United States December 7, 2010 Digital download (The Remixes Part 2) Geffen [36]

References

  1. ^ a b c The Best of Nelly Furtado (CD liner notes) Nelly Furtado. Geffen Records.
  2. ^ a b "Nelly Furtado interview: First decade, greatest hits, what's next - Beatweek Magazine". www.beatweek.com. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Nelly Furtado Explores Fun & Relationships With 'Night Is Young'". Popdirt. November 14, 2010.
  4. ^ Amar Toor, "Nelly Furtado, 'Night Is Young' -- New Song" AOL Radio Blog. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
  5. ^ (Posted: December 6, 2010) Nick Levine, "Music - Singles Review - Nelly Furtado: 'Night Is Young' - Digital Spy" Digital Spy. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
  6. ^ (Posted: November 23, 2010) DJ Ron Slomowicz, "Song of the Day: Nelly Furtado - 'Night Is Young'" Archived 2011-08-07 at the Wayback Machine About.com. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
  7. ^ (Posted: November 14, 2010) Jonathan Keefe, "Nelly Furtado | The Best of Nelly Furtado|Music Review" Slant Magazine. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
  8. ^ SNS IFPI - "Night Is Young". Radio Top100. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  9. ^ "Nelly Furtado - Night Is Young - austriancharts.at". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  10. ^ "ČNS IFPI - Night Is Young" Radio Top100. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
  11. ^ a b Night Is Young - Casting Call Archived 2010-10-14 at the Wayback Machine Bestfan.com. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  12. ^ http://www.bestfan.com/blog/2010/10/bestfan-exclusive-on-the-set-of-night-is-young-with-nelly-furtado/ Archived 2010-10-22 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  13. ^ http://www.bestfan.com/blog/2010/10/watch-this-nelly-furtado-night-is-young/ Archived 2011-05-23 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  14. ^ (Posted: Oct. 18, 2010) Bestfan Exclusive: On the Set of "Night is Young" with Nelly Furtado Archived 2010-10-22 at the Wayback Machine Bestfan.com. Ar Solutions. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
  15. ^ "Nelly Furtado strips down 'Night Is Young' for Soundcheck" Idolator.com. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
  16. ^ (Posted: November 4, 2010) Steve Wellman, "Nelly Furtado Feat. Wiley - 'Night Is Young' - Single Review" Stereoboard.com. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
  17. ^ (Posted: November 10, 2010) Jared, "Nelly Furtado releases 'Night Is Young' Remix EP". Archived 2010-11-18 at the Wayback Machine Popinstereo.com. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
  18. ^ (Posted: January 11, 2011) "Listen up: Nelly Furtado - Night Is Young (Remixes)" Archived 2011-05-18 at the Wayback Machine Bestfan Blog. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  19. ^ "oe3.ORF.at / woche 47/2010". Charts.orf.at. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  20. ^ "Nelly Furtado – Night Is Young" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
  21. ^ "Nelly Furtado – Night Is Young" (in French). Ultratip.
  22. ^ "Canadian Hot 100". Billboard.com. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  23. ^ "Nelly Furtado Chart History (Canada AC)". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  24. ^ "Nelly Furtado Chart History (Canada CHR/Top 40)". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  25. ^ "Nelly Furtado Chart History (Canada Hot AC)". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  26. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 201044 into search.
  27. ^ "Top 40 | Hitlijst | Radio 538 = 102 FM". Radio538.nl. Archived from the original on April 27, 2010. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  28. ^ "Dance Chart :: Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. 2010-12-16. Retrieved 2011-09-23.
  29. ^ "Portugal Digital Songs". Billboard. 2010-11-27. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
  30. ^ "Top Hit Weekly Audience Choice: наивысшая позиция" (in Russian). TopHit. 2011-01-24. Retrieved 2014-12-01.
  31. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201044 into search.
  32. ^ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0046DVL28[dead link]
  33. ^ "Night is Young". Amazon.
  34. ^ "Night is Young". Amazon UK.
  35. ^ "Night is Young". Amazon UK.
  36. ^ "Night is Young". Amazon.
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