"Underwater Love" is a song by the English band Smoke City. First released in 1995 on Rita Records, the song did not receive recognition until its appearance in a Levi's commercial in 1997, upon which it was positively received critically. It was then re-released as a single by Jive Records and charted in 10 countries, peaking at number four on the UK Singles Chart. It later became the first track on their debut album Flying Away.
Background
The Brazilian-inspired track is built upon a gentle, constant guitar strum, drums and samples, some of which are rainforest noises, others are from "Bahia Soul" by Luiz Bonfá and "Mother Popcorn" by James Brown.[5] It was written by the band's singer Nina Miranda and programmer Marc Brown, two former school friends who were admirers of 1970s funk, Santana, and Gilberto Gil.[6] Miranda and Brown were also credited as producers together with Mike Peden and band member Chris Franck.
Underwater Love was first recorded in 1994,[3] and released in 1995 via Ritas Records,[7] the song became a hit after being used in a commercial for Levi's jeans.[1][3] Prior to this, it had been featured on the Fourth & Broadway/Island compilation "The Rebirth Of Cool Six".[2] Lead singer Nina Miranda, who was living in Brazil at the time, was asked to return to London to discuss signing the project.[3] Miranda and Smoke City were later based in London, but their interests were in Brazil. Miranda was proud that they had success in Portugal as that country was "in the middle of what we're about".[8] Upon its re-release, on 31 March 1997,[2] the song made the charts in 10 countries. Underwater Love was included on the band's debut album which was titled "Flying Away".[6]
Critical reception
Neil Kulkarni from Melody Maker named "Underwater Love" Single of the Week.[9] Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "This well-constructed alloy of dub, hip hop and jazz is sufficiently catchy in its own right, however, and would probably have become a hit even without the support of the TV ad."[10] A reviewer from Music Week rated it five out of five, adding that "this hauntingly-sensuous melange of latin percussion, film noir vibes and bewitching vocals is begging to be the next Bond theme."[11]New Musical Express commended its mixture of "dub and Brazilian touches and healthy helpings of sleaze",[7] whilst The Pitch Online called the song "a perfect reprieve from the steel bars of winter into a humid rainforest of resonating vocals and music" and praised the vocals of Nina Miranda, noting that "even better than her exotic purring of the English hook would be when she transitions to a string of spoken Portuguese without using her full singing voice".[12] Also Andy Beevers from the Record Mirror Dance Update gave it five out of five, describing it as a "sublime slice of sub-aqua sultriness".[13] David Sinclair from The Times viewed it as a "exotic, hypnotic blend of Brazilian and hip hop beats".[14] In addition, Tom Bromley, author of We Could Have Been the Wombles, described the song as having "a fantastic feel: the hypnotically plucked guitar, the funky drum loop, a judicious mix of Brazilian beats and sonar bleeps, wafts of organ and hints of Herbie Hancock [are] all topped off by Nina's mesmeric vocals".[15]
The accompanying music video for the song includes all three members of the band, and was directed by Tim Macmillan and John Lynch, with final production by Red Post in London.[16]
^Underwater Love (UK & European CD single liner notes). Smoke City. Jive Records. 1997. JIVE CD 422, 0516352, 705.1635.2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Underwater Love (Australian CD single liner notes). Smoke City. Liberation Music. 1997. MUSH01602.2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Underwater Love (UK cassette single sleeve). Smoke City. Jive Records. 1997. Jive C 422, 0516354.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Underwater Love (French CD single liner notes). Smoke City. Jive Records. 1997. 7243 8 94197 2 6.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Underwater Love (US maxi-CD single disc notes). Smoke City. Jive Records. 1997. 01241-42531-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)