"Setting Sun" is a song by English electronic music duo the Chemical Brothers featuring vocals from Noel GallagherofBritpop band Oasis, who also co-wrote the track with duo members Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons. He is not mentioned on the front cover, only in the credit list. It was released as a single on 30 September 1996 by Freestyle Dust and Virgin Records from the Chemical Brothers' second album, Dig Your Own Hole (1997).
Despite receiving little airplay in the United Kingdom, "Setting Sun" sold 99,000 copies during its first week of release and debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart in October 1996.[6] Outside the UK, the song entered the top 10 in Finland, Ireland, and Sweden. The music video was directed by Nic Goffey and Dominic Hawley and filmed in London. American magazine Rolling Stone included "Setting Sun" in their list of the "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time" in 2022.[7]
Upon release, "Setting Sun" was critically acclaimed by music critics. J. D. Considine from The Baltimore Sun complimented the "ear-catching sounds" of "shrieking klaxons and braying trumpets", naming it one of three best songs from Dig Your Own Hole. He felt that songs like "Setting Sun" "come on like mini-amusement parks, offering so many sonic thrills that you can't help but want to ride the groove again."[8] Daina Darzin from Cash Box named it Pick of the Week, adding, "Techno, synthcore, dance, industrial, whatever you wanna call it, this is the single du jour—a downright amazing, explosive, whirling, get-your-feet-moving rush of a thing that you're guaranteed to play, like, 37 times in a row after hearing it for the first time."[9]
Caroline Sullivan from The Guardian gave it a top score of five out of five and named it Single of the Week, writing, "The Brothers' disjointed breakbeats, sirens and trapped-in-a-lift ambiance are glorious foils for Gallagher, who seems to be having an out-of-body experience. It's hallucinatory in the manner of one of Led Zeppelin's heaviest moments, where sonic firepower and grubby sexiness induced sensory overload."[10]Taylor Parkes from Melody Maker said, "The one with Noel Gallagher singing on it, yes. Not quite the meeting of the minds many will be expecting...but, as soon as it finished, I played it again. "Setting Sun" is the beat from The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows" cranked up and flooded with the messiest noise in techno, with Noel's usual dippy doggerel scribbled through the middle. The whole thing takes the slip road into beat-less Babel a couple of times to catch its breath before diving right back into the mêlée, riotous and rejuvenated."[11] Sally Stratton from Music & Media noted the track's "wails and explosions".[12]David Fricke from Rolling Stone remarked its "vertiginous Beatlemania".[13]
The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Nic Goffey and Dominic Hawley. It was shot on location at the abandoned Crystal Palace Subway station in London and features artist Lexi Strauss. In the video, it shows the prospect of a rave party through the eyes of a bewildered young woman. It can be seen the woman chasing a personification of her nightmare through the party. The video mixes a disturbing psychological confusion with moments of humoristic imagination (for example, the woman sees police dancing breakdance). The Chemical Brothers briefly appear, leaving the party with their record cases.
In December 1996, Melody Maker ranked "Setting Sun" number 25 in their list of "Singles of the Year".[14] In 2010, Pitchfork ranked it number 43 in their list of the "Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s".[15] In 2020, The Guardian called it, alongside Underworld's "Born Slippy .NUXX", the "most experimental and sonically extreme hit [single] of the 90s" and ranked it number 49 on their list of "The 100 Greatest UK No 1 Singles".[16][1] In 2022, Rolling Stone ranked it number 82 on their list of the "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time".[7]
^ abMolanphy, Chris (12 May 2023). "Champagne Supernova Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
^Kutner, Jon; Leigh, Spencer (2005). 1,000 UK Number One Hits (E-book) (2013 ed.). London, England: Omnibus Press. pp. 1105–1107. ISBN978-0-85712-360-2.
^Darzin, Daina (2 November 1996). "Pop Singles"(PDF). Cash Box. p. 7. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
^Sullivan, Caroline (4 October 1996). "Music: Single of the week - Enter two more brothers for Noel / Which Gallagher would you expect to team up with a techno duo?". The Guardian.
^Setting Sun (US CD single liner notes). The Chemical Brothers. Astralwerks. 1996. ASW 6187.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Setting Sun (UK cassette single sleeve). The Chemical Brothers. Freestyle Dust, Virgin Records. 1996. CHEMSTC4, 7243 8 93865 4 7.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Setting Sun (US cassette single sleeve). The Chemical Brothers. Astralwerks. 1996. ASW-6187-4.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Setting Sun (UK 12-inch single sleeve). The Chemical Brothers. Freestyle Dust, Virgin Records. 1996. CHEMST4, 7243 8 93865 6 1.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Setting Sun (US 12-inch single vinyl disc). The Chemical Brothers. Astralwerks. 1996. ASW 6187.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Setting Sun (European CD single liner notes). The Chemical Brothers. Freestyle Dust, Virgin Records. 1996. CHEMSDE4, 7243 8 93896 2 3.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Setting Sun (Japanese CD single liner notes). The Chemical Brothers. Freestyle Dust, Virgin Records. 1996. VJCP-15018.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Dig Your Own Hole (UK CD album booklet). The Chemical Brothers. Freestyle Dust, Virgin Records. 1997. XDUSTCD2, 7243 8 42950 2 8.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^"Classifiche". Musica e Dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 1 June 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Chemical Brothers".
