"Under the Influence"
Single by Elle King
from the album Love Stuff
ReleasedDecember 14, 2015 (2015-12-14)
Recorded2014
Genre
Length3:17
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Dave Bassett
Elle King singles chronology
"Ex's & Oh's"
(2014) 		"Under the Influence"
(2015) 		"America's Sweetheart"
(2016)

"Under the Influence" is a song co-written and recorded by American singer and songwriter Elle King for her debut studio album, Love Stuff (2015). The song was first released to digital retailers on December 9, 2014 through RCA Records as a promotional single and was serviced to American Triple A radio December 15, 2015 as the album's second official single.[1][2] As of January 2016, the song has become King's second top-3 hit on the Adult Alternative Songs chart. The music video for "Under The Influence" was released on April 28, 2016. In March 2015 it was used as a promotional song for TCM over older movie clips.

Composition

"Under the Influence" was written by Elle King and the song's producer, Dave Bassett, about the challenge of being in love with someone who is no good for you.[3] The lyrics relate this toxic relationship to substance abuse, with the narrator describing herself as being "under the influence" of her significant other. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote that King "walks a fine line between rock crunch and soul testifying" on this and other album tracks,[4] while Diffuser noted a "soulful swagger" in the delivery and Kitty Empire of The Guardian described the song's sound as "slinky R&B".[5][6]

Live performances

King performed "Ex's & Oh's" and "Under the Influence" as the musical guest on the episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! airing October 26, 2015.[7]

Commercial reception

"Under the Influence" debuted on the Billboard Alternative Songs airplay chart at number 40 in December 2015 and has since reached a peak position of 17.[8] The song has also reached number three on the Billboard Adult Alternative Songs (or Triple A) airplay chart, her second consecutive top-tier single after "Ex's & Oh's".[9] It has charted on the magazine's Rock Airplay chart, which monitors airplay from all rock formats including the aforementioned, at number 22 and on the Hot Rock Songs chart at 47.[10][11]

In Canada, the song has reached a peak position of 33 on the Billboard Canada Rock airplay chart, which follows a similar methodology to Rock Airplay.[12]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2015–16) Peak
position
Canada Rock (Billboard)[12] 33
Iceland (RÚV)[13] 1
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[14] 17
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[11] 47
US Rock Airplay (Billboard)[10] 22

Year end charts

Chart (2016) Position
US Adult Alternative Songs (Billboard)[15] 21

Release history

Country Date Format Ref.
United States December 9, 2014 Digital download [1]
December 14, 2015 Adult album alternative [2]
December 15, 2015 Modern rock [16]

References

  1. ^ a b "Amazon.com: Under The Influence: Elle King: MP3 Downloads". Amazon Music. Amazon.com. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Future Releases on Triple A (AAA) Radio Stations". All Access Media Group. Archived from the original on December 5, 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  3. ^ Yaeger, Jackie (December 9, 2014). "Song Premiere: Elle King - "Under the Influence"". Nylon. Marc Luzzatto. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  4. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Love Stuff - Elle King". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  5. ^ "Album Review: Elle King, 'Love Stuff'". Diffuser. Townsquare Media. February 19, 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  6. ^ Empire, Kitty (October 10, 2015). "Elle King review – dirt, depth and attitude". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  7. ^ Lim, Kevin; Sidhu, Sonia. "WATCH: Elle King Performs 'Ex's and Oh's' & 'Under the Influence' on Jimmy Kimmel". CKPK-FM (102.7 The Peak). Jim Pattison Group. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  8. ^ "Elle King - Chart history". Billboard Alternative Songs for Elle King. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
  9. ^ "Elle King - Chart history". Billboard Adult Alternative Songs for Elle King. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
  10. ^ a b "Elle King Chart History (Rock Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
  11. ^ a b "Elle King Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  12. ^ a b "Chart Search". Billboard Canada Rock for Elle King. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  13. ^ "Elle King Chart History". RÚV. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  14. ^ "Elle King Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  15. ^ "Adult Alternative Songs: Year End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  16. ^ "Future Releases on Alternative Radio Stations". All Access Media Group. Archived from the original on December 4, 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
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