"Love Is Noise" is a song by English alternative rock band the Verve, the second track on their fourth album, Forth (2008). It was released as the first single from the album on 3 August 2008 as a digital download, with the physical release following on 11 August 2008 in the United Kingdom.[1] The song received its first airplay by Zane LoweonBBC Radio 1 on 23 June 2008.[2]
The single debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number five after during first week of release via online download alone. The following week, the song peaked at number four and stayed five weeks in the UK top 10, giving the Verve their first top-10 hit since 1997 with "Lucky Man". It was their third UK top-five single and their fourth to crack the UK top 10. "Love Is Noise" also reached the top 10 in Ireland, Italy, and Sweden. The song's music video debuted on the band's Myspace page shortly before the song's release.
The song reworks lines from William Blake's poem "And did those feet in ancient time", commonly known as 'Jerusalem'. Where Blake begins "And did those feet in ancient time, / Walk upon England's mountains green?", "Love is Noise" asks: "Will those feet in modern times / Walk on soles that are made in China?", and alludes to "bright prosaic malls" in place of "dark Satanic Mills".[3][4] This is the second time Richard Ashcroft has referenced Blake, following 1995's "History".[citation needed]
"Love Is Noise" derived from "Columbo", another song on the album. While recording that track, Ashcroft created a new loop on a vocoder and added it to the song, which was essentially a jam the band had been working on for a few days. The band continued adding to it until it evolved into a different track.[5]
The video for the song was released on the band's Myspace page on 9 July 2008.[citation needed] The video mixes up shots of the band performing in a dimly-lit room, with frontman Richard Ashcroft sitting on the floor, with montages of other images, including snow-capped mountains, a North Korean choreography, a couple about to kiss, a dancer and a blonde woman with an eagle.
On 3 August a digital download of the "album version" of the song was released with the song's video in the iTunes Store. A week later, an exclusive iTunes Store bundle was released featuring a "Freelance Hellraiser" remix at the same time as another bundle featuring the "album version" and the physical format's B-sides. The physical formats (CD and 7-inch vinyl records) were released on 11 August 2008.[6]
^"Lyrically, look at it in the first few lines, as a kind of remake of Jerusalem by William Blake, rather than those feet in ancient times its those feet in modern times.", Richard Ashcroft, Love Is Noise Interview, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rXLSWrFVqg
^Vorndran, Daniela (23 August 2008). "Verve, The – August 2008 (Part II)". Reflections of Darkness – a dark music webzine. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 200851 into search. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
