In Undertow

The song, which opens its parent album, introduces a "fantasy breakup arc" wherein the narrator mulls over the end of a relationship.{{cite web | last=Reimink | first=Troy | title=For Mo Pop's Alvvays, catchy 2014 hit was just the beginning | website=USA TODAY | date=July 26, 2018 | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2018/07/26/mo-pop-alvvays-molly-rankin/824006002/ | access-date=May 5, 2024}} In the bridge, singer Molly Rankin asks, "What’s next for you and me?"{{cite web | title=The 5 Best Songs Of The Week | website=Stereogum | date=June 9, 2017 | url=https://www.stereogum.com/1945923/the-5-best-songs-of-the-week-195/lists/the-5-best-songs-of-the-week/ | access-date=May 5, 2024}} She uses nautical imagery—"you find a wave and try to hold on for as long as you can", or a current of undertow{{cite web | last=Hunt | first=El | title=Islands in the stream: Alvvays | website=DIY | date=August 9, 2017 | url=https://diymag.com/interview/alvvays-interview-september-2017-antisocialites | access-date=May 5, 2024}}—to depict mistakes made. The song's chorus repeats the refrain "There's no turning back after what's been said."{{cite web | title=Song of the Day: Alvvays | website=KEXP 90.3 FM | date=July 27, 2017 | url=https://www.kexp.org/read/2017/8/1/song-of-the-day-alvvays-in-undertow/ | access-date=May 5, 2024}} One verse ends with the couplet: "Can't buy into astrology, and won’t rely on the moon for anything."{{cite web | last=Leitch | first=Will | last2=Grierson | first2=Tim | title=12 Best New Songs of the Week: Lorde, Halsey, Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters, More | website=Vulture | date=June 7, 2017 | url=https://www.vulture.com/2017/06/best-new-songs-of-the-week-lorde-halsey-arcade-fire.html | access-date=May 5, 2024}}

When asked about how she developed the song, Rankin replied, "I was wobbling along a shore picking up stained glass, which is just something I really love. I have many glass bottles of it in my apartment of all different colors and I kind of just came up with the melody."{{cite web | last=Barney | first=Justin | title=Alvvays' Molly Rankin talks living on an island and becoming an introvert | website=Radio Milwaukee | date=February 23, 2018 | url=https://radiomilwaukee.org/discover-music/music-news/2018-02-23/alvvays-molly-rankin-talks-living-on-an-island-and-becoming-an-introvert | access-date=May 5, 2024}} The song contains backing vocals and additional guitar{{cite web | last=Gaca | first=Anna | title=Review: Alvvays Follow Their Winsome Indie Pop Blueprint on Antisocialites | website=SPIN | date=September 7, 2017 | url=https://www.spin.com/2017/09/alvvays-antisocialites-review/ | access-date=May 5, 2024}} from Norman Blake of Scottish power pop progenitors Teenage Fanclub,{{cite web | last=Hogan | first=Marc | title=Alvvays: Antisocialites | website=Pitchfork | date=September 7, 2017 | url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/alvvays-antisocialites/ | access-date=May 5, 2024}} one of the band's professed influences.{{cite web | title=Molly Rankin of Alvvays Talks Influences and Inspiration with KEXP | website=KEXP 90.3 FM | url=https://www.kexp.org/read/2018/7/30/molly-rankin-alvvays-talks-influences-inspiration-with-kexp/ | access-date=May 5, 2024}} The work of Dolly Mixture influenced the song as well. The opening keyboard in the intro is pulled from a demo the band recorded in their Toronto rehearsal space.{{cite web | last=Gourlay | first=Dom | title="Britain took a chance on us": DiS Meets Alvvays | website=DrownedInSound | date=September 14, 2017 | url=https://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4151324-britain-took-a-chance-on-us---dis-meets-alvvays | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914125947/http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4151324-britain-took-a-chance-on-us---dis-meets-alvvays | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 14, 2017 | access-date=May 5, 2024 }}

The song's music video was directed by Jo Garrity,{{cite web | title=Alvvays: In Undertow (Short 2017) | website=IMDb | date=July 13, 2017 | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7130376/ | access-date=May 5, 2024}} and released on July 13, 2017.{{cite web | last=Geslani | first=Michelle | title=Alvvays unveil trippy new video for "In Undertow": Watch | website=Consequence | date=July 13, 2017 | url=https://consequence.net/2017/07/alvvays-unveil-trippy-new-video-for-in-undertow-watch/ | access-date=May 5, 2024}} The clip contains shots of the band awash in analog video effects. Rankin emerges in an astronaut helmet and sings over kaleidoscopic visuals. Rankin characterized it as "aquacosmic psych meets public access TV [...] I'm aware of my own drowning fixation and fascinated by that bizarre lunar-tidal relationship. We’ve already filled our water video quota. Space is a trippier ocean."{{cite web | title=Alvvays Share Psychedelic Music Video for "In Undertow," Reveal Supporting Acts for Tour | website=Paste Magazine | date=July 26, 2022 | url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/alvvays/alvvays-share-psychedelic-music-video-for-in-under | access-date=May 5, 2024}} The video won the award for Best Editing in a Music Video at the New York City Independent Film Festival 2017.

The band first began teasing the song the week before its release; fans used Shazam to identify the song's title before it was officially announced.{{cite web | last=Rettig | first=James | title=Alvvays Tease "In Undertow" From New Album Antisocialites | website=Stereogum | date=June 2, 2017 | url=https://www.stereogum.com/1944616/alvvays-tease-in-undertow-from-new-album-antisocialites/news/ | access-date=May 5, 2024}} The band promoted the song with performances on WXPN's World Cafe{{cite web | last=Schlanger | first=Talia | title=Alvvays On World Cafe | website=NPR | date=September 8, 2017 | url=https://www.npr.org/sections/world-cafe/2017/09/08/549425688/alvvays-on-world-cafe | access-date=May 5, 2024}} and on CBS This Morning.{{cite web | last=Gray | first=Julia | title=Watch Alvvays Play 3 Songs On CBS This Morning | website=Stereogum | date=June 3, 2018 | url=https://www.stereogum.com/1999503/watch-alvvays-play-3-songs-on-cbs-this-morning/news/ | access-date=May 5, 2024}}

Stuart Berman from Pitchfork writes: "If [the song] is shrouded in confusion and doubt, Alvvays never second-guess their core strength: anthemic, arm-swaying hooks that aim for the stars even when the sky is gray."{{cite web | last=Berman | first=Stuart | title=Alvvays: "In Undertow" | website=Pitchfork | date=June 7, 2017 | url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/19170-alvvays-in-undertow/ | access-date=May 5, 2024}} Readers of the publication ranked it among the best songs of 2017.{{cite web | title=Pitchfork Readers’ Poll Results 2017 | website=Pitchfork | date=December 22, 2017 | url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/pitchfork-readers-poll-results-2017/ | access-date=May 5, 2024}} Stereogum's James Rettig felt that it "contains all of the elements that were initially so charming about the Toronto five-piece blown up to fuzzy and dreamy new heights."{{cite web | last=Rettig | first=James | title=Alvvays – "In Undertow" | website=Stereogum | date=June 6, 2017 | url=https://www.stereogum.com/1945066/alvvays-in-undertow/music/ | access-date=May 5, 2024}} Gabe Cohn from Vulture observed that "The band has kept their rivers of reverb, which sometimes makes them sound as though they’re playing to an empty middle-school gymnasium, an image that fittingly blends sweetness with melancholy." AllMusic's Tim Sendra observed that "The pain seeps out of songs like "In Undertow" [...] the album is heavy with break-up songs and she captures the varying moods of a break-up with surgical precision."{{cite web | title=Antisocialites | website=AllMusic | date=September 8, 2017 | url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/antisocialites-mw0003057897 | access-date=May 5, 2024}} Mike Katzif from NPR considered it a "darker spiritual sequel" to "Archie, Marry Me".{{cite web | last=Katzif | first=Mike | title=Review: Alvvays, 'Antisocialites' | website=NPR | date=August 31, 2017 | url=https://www.npr.org/2017/08/31/547013497/first-listen-alvvays-antisocialites | access-date=May 5, 2024}} Malcolm Jack of The Guardian characterized it as "an addictive shoegazey swirl of Farfisa and feedback."{{cite web | last=Jack | first=Malcolm | title='I'm this reserved, awkward human': love, death and jangles with Alvvays | website=the Guardian | date=October 3, 2017 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2017/oct/03/alvvays-molly-rankin-interview | access-date=May 5, 2024}}

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Category:2017 singles

Category:2017 songs

Category:Alvvays songs

Category:Songs about parting