Left Hand Free
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2017}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Left Hand Free
| cover = Left Hand Free alt-j.jpg
| alt =
| border = yes
| type = single
| artist = Alt-J
| album = This Is All Yours
| released = 7 July 2014
| recorded = 2014
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = {{hlist|Indie rock|garage rock|blues rock|Southern rock}}
| length = 2:53
| label = Infectious
| writer = Alt-J
| producer = Charlie Andrew
| prev_title = Hunger of the Pine
| prev_year = 2014
| next_title = Every Other Freckle
| next_year = 2014
}}
"Left Hand Free" is a song by English indie rock band Alt-J. It was released as the second single from the band's second studio album This Is All Yours on 7 July 2014.
Background and composition
With its Southern rock influences,{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6150322/alt-j-left-hand-free-single-stream |title=Alt-J Releases 'Left Hand Free' Single: Listen |magazine=Billboard |date=7 July 2014 |access-date=3 December 2014 |author=Lipshutz, Jason}} "Left Hand Free" is atypical for an Alt-J song, with the band themselves describing it as "the least Alt-J song ever".{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jul/05/alt-j-mercury-prize-this-is-all-yours |title=Alt-J: 'All the coolest bands are completely normal' |work=The Guardian |date=5 July 2014 |access-date=3 December 2014 |author=Richards, Sam}} The song, written by band members Joe Newman, Thom Green and Gus Unger-Hamilton "in about 20 minutes", was built around a riff that Newman would play during rehearsals and features an organ solo from Unger-Hamilton, while Green's performance on the song was deliberately performed "as clichéd as possible," with "none of [his] personality in it". Contrary to reports that the band wrote the song at the behest of their record company, Unger-Hamilton elaborated that the song was rather "the product of having fun one afternoon in the writers’ studio and enjoying [themselves]", which eventually ended up being the track that the band's American label responded most favorably to.{{cite web |url=https://www.stereogum.com/1704017/qa-alt-j-on-making-this-is-all-yours-sampling-miley-cyrus-and-soldiering-on-as-a-three-piece/franchises/interview/ |title=Q&A: Alt-J On Making This Is All Yours, Sampling Miley Cyrus, And Soldiering On As A Three-Piece |publisher=Stereogum |date=10 September 2014 |access-date=8 December 2014 |author=DeVille, Chris}}
Release
"Left Hand Free" was released digitally as the second single from This Is All Yours on 7 July 2014. In the United States, it entered modern rock radio on 15 July 2014 and subsequently peaked at number two on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. The song also debuted and peaked at number 99 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming their first entry on the chart and their most successful single in the country to date. On 27 October 2014, a remix by Lido was released as a single.
Music video
The music video for "Left Hand Free" was directed by Ryan Staake and released on 7 August 2014.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRWUoDpo2fo |title=alt-J – Left Hand Free (Official Video) 1 |publisher=YouTube |date=7 August 2014 |access-date=3 December 2014 |author=Alt-J |author-link=Alt-J}} It depicts a group of American teenagers doing various activities of leisure, including drinking beer, setting off fireworks, driving, and swimming in the Guadalupe River.{{cite journal |url=https://www.nme.com/news/alt-j/79038 |title=American teens party in Alt-J's 'Left Hand Free' video – watch |journal=NME |date=7 August 2014 |access-date=3 December 2014}} Reviewer Tim Brayton commented "Since we're never going to see a beer ad directed by David Gordon Green, this is the next best thing. The hook is unbelievably straightforward: 'in the summer, sexy young people like to have fun with their sexy young friends! Pick-up trucks and getting wet are often involved!'... Some of the shots are fun and relaxed; a surprising number feel worn out, like you will after you've gotten too much sun."{{cite web|last1=Brayton|first1=Tim|title=Best Shots: The VMAs|url=http://reviews.antagonyecstasy.com/2015/07/best-shots-vmas.html|website=The Antagonie and the Ecstasy|access-date=21 April 2016}}
A second official video was also released, which features a group of young adults at a pool party. The party is guarded by bouncers armed with various guns. At the end of the video peoples faces begin to panic and a guard is shot. A helicopter hovers towards the ground and a shootout between the bouncers and the helicopter begins, causing a panic.
Media usage
The song is played in the episode "Derailed" from the fourth season of Suits.{{Cite web|url=http://www.what-song.com/Tvshow/7/Suits/e/786|title=S4E14 - Suits (Derailed) List of Songs | WhatSong}}
The song appears in the 2016 Marvel Studios film Captain America: Civil War, during the first appearance of Peter Parker / Spider-Man.{{cite web|url=https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Spider-Man-Song-Captain-America-Civil-War-41220185|title=The Song That Introduces Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War Is a Total Jam|last=Pehanick|first=Maggie|work=PopSugar|date=6 May 2016|access-date=7 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508113355/http://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Spider-Man-Song-Captain-America-Civil-War-41220185|archive-date=8 May 2016|url-status=live}} It is also played during the final credits of the movie.
The song is used as the theme tune for the BBC television series The Interceptor.
It is also used in the Dr Pepper commercial "Barbershop".{{Cite web|url=http://www.ispot.tv/ad/74P7/dr-pepper-barbershop-song-by-alt-j|title=Dr Pepper TV Commercial, 'Barbershop' Song by Alt-J|website=iSpot.tv|language=en|access-date=2019-04-27}}
The song is used close to the beginning of the first episode in both seasons of the Netflix series Outer Banks, and is used in the first scene of the first episode of season one.
"Left Hand Free" is also used in the pilot episode of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, "Amazing Fantasy," directly alluding to its earlier use in Civil War.
Charts
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
! Chart (2014–2023) ! Peak |
| scope="row"| Australia (ARIA){{cite web |url=http://www.aria.com.au/ARIAIssue1272.pdf |archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20140715022000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20140715-1220/ARIAIssue1272.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-07-15 |title=The ARIA Report: Issue 1272 |publisher=Australian Recording Industry Association |date=14 July 2014 |access-date=23 August 2014 |page=2 }}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
|align="center"| 80 |
|---|
| {{single chart|Flanders Tip|83|artist=alt-J|song=Hunger of the Pine|access-date=3 December 2014|refname="bel (fl)"|rowheader=true}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardcanadianhot100|68|artist=alt-J|rowheader=true|access-date=December 20, 2021}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardcanadarock|5|artist=alt-J|access-date=3 December 2014|rowheader=true}} |
| {{single chart|France|126|artist=alt-J|song=Hunger of the Pine|access-date=3 December 2014|refname="france"|rowheader=true}} |
| {{single chart|Hungarysingle|5|year=2023|week=13|access-date=4 April 2023|rowheader=true}} |
| {{single chart|Scotland|92|date=2014-12-14|access-date=December 20, 2021|rowheader=true}} |
| {{single chart|UK|85|date=2014-12-14|access-date=28 August 2018|rowheader=true}} |
| {{single chart|UKindie|7|date=2014-10-04|access-date=3 December 2014|rowheader=true}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardhot100|99|artist=alt-J|refname="BB"|access-date=3 December 2014|rowheader=true}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardrocksongs|9|artist=alt-J|refname="USrock"|access-date=3 December 2014|rowheader=true}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardrockairplay|5|artist=alt-J|refname="USrockairplay"|access-date=3 December 2014|rowheader=true}} |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" |
| Chart (2014)
! Position |
|---|
| scope="row"| US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard){{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2014/hot-rock-songs |title=Hot Rock Songs: Year End 2014 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=21 December 2014}}
| style="text-align:center;"| 34 |
| scope="row"| US Rock Airplay (Billboard){{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2014/rock-airplay-songs |title=Rock Airplay Songs: Year End 2014 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=21 December 2014}}
| style="text-align:center;"| 23 |
| Chart (2015)
! Position |
| scope="row"| US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard){{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2015/hot-rock-songs |title=Hot Rock Songs: Year End 2015 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=6 September 2018}}
| style="text-align:center;"| 98 |
{{col-end}}
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for "Left Hand Free"}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|artist=Alt-J|title=Left Hand Free|award=Platinum|number=2|type=single|relyear=2014|certyear=2024|access-date=31 July 2024}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=Alt-J|title=Left Hand Free|award=Platinum|type=single|relyear=2014|certyear=2022|id=14126-2431-1|access-date=27 September 2022}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|digital=true|title=Left Hand Free|artist=Alt-J|award=Gold|relyear=2014|certyear=2016|access-date=1 February 2016}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|streaming=true | noshipments=true}}
Release history
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Alt-J}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Infectious Records singles