Avicii's Levels turns 10

[Andreu]

On October 28, 2011, one of the most iconic dance tracks of all time was officially released. Avicii played started playing the first demo of the song in December 2010 and didn't play the final instrumental of the song until March 2011, during his first first performance at Miami's Ultra Music Festival. Avicii contacted Mike Posner to write some vocals for the songs, and the american singer/songwriter sent him six ideas, but Avicii didn't consider any of them good enough. The vocals featured on the song are sampled from Etta James' Something's Gotta Hold on Me.

The song immediately clicked with the audience, and was a hit within the EDM world even before it was officially released, as it can be seen in the "trailer" for the song that Avicii himself posted in his own youtube channel, which features clips of the swedish DJ/producer playing the song in his sets and the crowd singing it back. Not only in Sweden, but also in countries such as The Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Norway or the USA.

And of course, Level became an even bigger hit after it was released: it's certified platinum or higher in 13 countries, it charted on the swedish yearend chart four times.

 

To celebrate its anniversary, Avicii's team are posting a video from him playing the song in one of the stops of his final tour in 2016, which will potentially feature unseen footage. It premieres in a few minutes.

 

Edited October 28, 2021 by Andreu

[Fame Romance]

One of the most iconic and influential House songs of all time, the House Music Industry, a cultural reset etc