"Quicksand" is a song by English electropop duo La Roux

La Roux

La Roux are an English electropop duo made up of singer, keyboardist, co-writer and co-producer Eleanor Kate Jackson, and co-writer and co-producer Ben Langmaid. Jackson describes their relationship as "very much a half and half sharing situation... not like a singer producer outfit", but also...

 from their self-titled debut album, La Roux

La Roux (album)

La Roux is the eponymous debut album by English electropop duo La Roux. Released in the United Kingdom on 29 June 2009 by Polydor Records, the album includes the hit singles "In for the Kill" and "Bulletproof", which peaked at numbers two and one on the UK Singles Chart, respectively...

. Written and produced by Elly Jackson

Elly Jackson

Eleanor Kate "Elly" Jackson is an English singer-songwriter and the lead singer of the electropop duo La Roux. She is well known for her red hair and androgynous style.-Biography:...

 and Ben Langmaid, the song was released as the album's lead single

Lead single

A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...

 on 15 December 2008 by Kitsuné Music

Kitsuné Music

Kitsuné is a French fashion label and electronic music record label created in 2002 by Gildas Loaëc, Masaya Kuroki and the London-based company Åbäke...

. It peaked at number 153 on the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 upon limited release. When re-released on 23 November 2009, the single re-entered the chart at number 129.

Song information

Jackson told The London Paper that the song is about "having an intense moment with someone, when maybe you're watching a film or listening to music, and both of you are yearning for the other one, and it's almost painful to sit next to them."

Critical reception

"Quicksand" was met with positive critical acclaim. Digital Spy

Digital Spy

Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....

 music editor Nick Levine wrote that "[l]ike most of the songs on their debut album, it's a winning combination of pop smarts, stifling romantic obsession and production that mixes the sounds of '82 with the sonic punch of '09." Alexis Petridis

Alexis Petridis

Alexis Petridis is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for UK newspaper The Guardian, as well as a regular and contributor to the magazine GQ.Petridis began his career writing for Varsity whilst a student at the University of Cambridge...

 of The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

commented that "the sparse dynamics and stabbing synthesisers of 'Quicksand' offer a reminder that not every aspect of the 80s has been mined to exhaustion in recent years." Peter Paphides

Peter Paphides

Peter Paphides is a British journalist and broadcaster.Between 2005 and 2010 he was employed as the chief rock critic of The Times and presented The Times weekly music podcast for Sounds Music supplement...

 of The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

called the song "superb" and added, "Propelled along by a melody that shares some of its DNA with Prince

Prince (musician)

Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

's 'When Doves Cry

When Doves Cry

A hit cover version by R&B singer Ginuwine was produced by Timbaland in 1996 for Ginuwine's The Bachelor album, Ginuwine's cover uses actual dove sound effects as texture for its jungle music-inspired instrumental track.-Charts:-Other cover versions:...

', Jackson casts herself as the recipient of an overture from someone already in a relationship." John Murphy, writing for musicOMH

MusicOMH

musicOMH is a United Kingdom-based website which publishes independent reviews, featues and interviews from across all musical genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.-History:...

, described the song as "instantly addictive and catchy", while stating that "unlike a lot of electro acts out there, 'Quicksand' has real heart and emotion to it as well—certainly not a case of style over substance." Allmusic's Heather Phares noted that the track "uses a relentlessly tight arrangement and Jackson's frosty soulfulness to give the song's obsession a shot of excitement." Luke Turner from the NME

NME

The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

referred to "Quicksand" as "liquid-mercury-smooth but pierced by sharp vocals."

Music video

The music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 of "Quicksand" was directed by Kinga Burza

Kinga Burza

Kinga Burza is a Polish-Australian music video director.-Biography:Kinga Burza was born in Poland and raised in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia before moving to London in 2005 and signing with respected film production company Partizan of Michel Gondry fame in 2006.She completed a BA at the...

. It was released on YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

 on 13 January 2009. The video shows Jackson on a tropical island with pineapples and the sun setting. Girls are dancing. Jackson is seen with a parrot on her shoulder, singing. It mostly features Jackson singing with the sun setting behind her.

Original release

• French 12" single

A1. "Quicksand" (Original) – 3:07

A2. "Quicksand" (autoKratz

AutoKratz

autoKratz are a London based electronic duo composed of David Cox and Russell Crank. They are signed to the French electronic label Kitsuné Music....

 Drags to Riches Mix) – 4:44

B1. "Quicksand" (Beni

Beni (musician)

Beni is an Australian musician and DJ. He is a part of the Riot In Belgium duo with Joel Dickson. He is releasing his singles under the French Kitsuné record label.-Solo:...

's Sinking at 1.56 Mix) – 4:20

B2. "Quicksand" (Chateau Marmont Remix) – 3:34

• French iTunes EP

1. "Quicksand" – 3:07
2. "Quicksand" (AutoKratz Drags to Riches Mix) – 4:42
3. "Quicksand" (Beni's Sinking at 1.56 Mix) – 4:18
4. "Quicksand" (Chateau Marmont Remix) – 3:32
5. "Quicksand" (Joe and Will Ask? Remix) – 5:01

• UK iTunes single

1. "Quicksand" (Standard Version) – 3:05

• US EP and iTunes EP

1. "Quicksand" (Original Version) – 3:06
2. "Quicksand" (Mad Decent Remix No. 1) – 5:07
3. "In for the Kill" (Skream
   Skream
   Skream is a dubstep producer based in Croydon. One of dubstep's first and most prominent producers, he has played an important role in the genre's development. His debut album Skream! was released in 2006, and was followed up by Outside the Box in 2010...
   
   's Let's Get Ravey Remix) – 5:02

• US 12" single

A1. "Quicksand" – 3:08

A2. "Quicksand" (Mad Decent Mix No. 1) – 5:10

A3. "Quicksand" (Instrumental) – 3:08

B1. "In for the Kill" (Skream's Let's Get Ravey Remix) – 5:04

B2. "In for the Kill" (Instrumental) – 4:08

Re-release

• UK CD single

1. "Quicksand" – 3:07
2. "Quicksand" (Boy 8 Bit Remix) – 5:58
3. "Quicksand" (Beni's Sinking at 1.56 Mix) – 4:19

• UK limited edition 7" single

A. "Quicksand" - 3:07

• UK iTunes EP

1. "Quicksand" – 3:07
2. "Quicksand" (Boy 8 Bit Remix) – 5:58
3. "Quicksand" (Alex Metric Remix) – 6:26
4. "Quicksand" (Mad Decent Remix No. 1) – 5:12

Charts

Chart (2009)	Peak position
Belgian Tip Chart (Flanders)	19
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	129

Release history

Country	Date	Label	Format
Original release
France	15 December 2008	Kitsuné Music Kitsuné Music Kitsuné is a French fashion label and electronic music record label created in 2002 by Gildas Loaëc, Masaya Kuroki and the London-based company Åbäke...	12" single 12-inch single The 12-inch single is a type of gramophone record that has wider groove spacing compared to other types of records. This allows for louder levels to be cut on the disc by the cutting engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range, and thus better sound quality... , Digital EP Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
United States	14 April 2009	Cherrytree Records Cherrytree Records Cherrytree Records is an American record label and is an imprint of Interscope Records.-History:Cherrytree Records was founded in 2005 by Martin Kierszenbaum, being German for cherry tree... , Interscope Records Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...	EP Extended play An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact... , digital EP
	9 June 2009		12" single
United Kingdom	2 July 2009	Polydor Records Polydor Records Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...	Digital single
Re-release
United Kingdom	22 November 2009	Polydor Records	Digital EP
	23 November 2009		CD single, 7" single Gramophone record A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...