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"A+E" is the debut single by British electronic group Clean Bandit, featuring vocals by Kandaka Moore and Nikki Cislyn. It was released on 7 December 2012 as the first single from their debut album, New Eyes. The song peaked at number 100 on the UK Singles Chart,[1] but received mixed critical reception. The song's music video contains a CGI snake.

"A+E"
Single by Clean Bandit featuring Kandaka Moore and Nikki Cislyn
from the album New Eyes
B-side	"Nightingale"
Released	7 December 2012
Genre	Dance electronic tropical house
Length	3:03 (single version) 4:06 (album / music video version)
Label	Black Butter Records
Songwriter(s)	Jack Patterson Grace Chatto
Producer(s)	Jack Patterson
Clean Bandit singles chronology
"UK Shanty" (2012) "A+E" (2012) "Mozart's House" (2013)

Background

The track was written by Jack Patterson while he was waiting for fellow band member Grace Chatto in the accident and emergency department[2] of Whittington Hospital, North London.[3] The track was originally released in 2012[4] as a double A-Side with "Nightingale". Both tracks feature Cislyn; only A&E features Moore.[5] The album version of the song includes a string trio arrangement of Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion (BMV 244) Pt. 2, number 54 .

The track was recorded in Clean Bandit's studio in South Kilburn, London. Moore and Cislyn were recruited from a local community singing and dancing group next to South Kilburn Studios;[6] the studios had a scheme in which artists could use the studios for free if a trainee was taken on.[5]

Music video

The music video contains a CGI snake. Band member Jack Patterson taught himself CGI animation for the video.[7] He had the idea for a snake for a year previously, and said that "it was quite daunting having to make it a reality learning how to use 3D animation software on the hoof". The video contains two dancers, Rhys Dennis and Kandaka Moore, who – over the course of two hours – were painted gold (using stop-frame animation, the whole process takes about 25 seconds) and then went into central London.[8]

Critical reception

Critical reception was mixed. MTVIggy.com said that the song was "a funky hodgepodge of elements from the soul-sangin’ vocalists, calypso-flecked xylophone chimes and sharp snare drum beats".[9] Joe Zadeh from Clash magazine called it "a throwaway ode to UK funky".[10]

Track listing

Charts

Chart (2014)	Peak position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[11]	100

References

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