Honeymoon Anthem

"Honeymoon Anthem" is a song by American indie pop band Curriculum. Written by Gregory Preston Olivier, Phillip Mandelbaum, Wyatt van Cleef, Dana Breckenridge, and Stephanie Kesh, and produced by Shawn Middlesbrough, the song was released outside of the UK on September and October 2012 and in the UK on 28 January 2013 as the fourth and final single from the album. The single premiered on 2 May 2012 and was initially supposed to be released on 11 June 2012 but was "temporarily postponed" due to a variety of issues.

The song describes a couple who go on a far destination romantic getaway and incorporates alternative and Icelandic rock/pop music. The single mix of the song is somewhat different, as unlike the album version, it incorporates the Icelandic language, and the initial promotion of the single revolved around Icelandic culture. When reviewed as an album track, it received positive reviews from critics and the general public who described the song as "sensual" and dubbed it to be a "fan favorite" of Syllabus. Critics regarded it as being a standout track from the album.

Critically acclaimed and regarded a fan favorite, the single was commercially successful internationally. In the UK, it reached #9 on the UK Singles Chart. In late 2013, the band earned their first ever award at the Q Awards for the song's music video. In January 2014, the band earned their first Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance for "Honeymoon Anthem".

Background and writing
"Honeymoon Anthem" was first written as a poem by Gregory Preston Olivier when he was fifteen years old. Olivier wrote the poem the day after he experienced what he called a "momentous adolescent milestone"; he later admitted that he was referring to himself losing his virginity which inspired him to write a romantic poem. The poem was solely about love and/or lust and did not include elements of geography until writing sessions for Curriculum's debut album Syllabus began. Olivier was looking to write a song after he became inspired by family vacations he would take with his family to Iceland since he was the age of nine. Olivier found the poem and decided to turn it into a song and make it both about romance and geography. Other members of Curriculum eventually added their lyrics and ideas to the song.

Including thematic elements of love, lust, romance, and geography, the song lyrically describes a couple who have gone on a romantic getaway. In the song, the protagonist sensually and somewhat suggestively expresses his love and lust towards his lover. With various geographical locations mentioned, mainly Iceland, the protagonist then talks about how he would follow his lover where she goes just so she could be by his side.

Composition
Produced by Shawn Middlesbrough, the song is an alternative song that also incorporates elements of Icelandic music and, to a lesser extent, urban-pop music. The song is initially mid-tempo before switching to an uptempo beat halfway through. The song begins with only the music and no beat, which kicks just shortly before the first verse begins. After a brief "breakdown" of sorts at the middle-eight point of the song, the beat switches to uptempo and the song eventually ends the same way it begins with no beat and only the melody music. At the end of the song, it goes without a beat and goes entirely instrumental.

Middlesbrough stated that he drew influence of the song's melody from Icelandic music and love songs. He also stated that he wanted to make the song "mainly romantic and slightly Icelandic" and compared the melodic structure of the song to a couple having sex as he explained thoroughly (but not "graphically") in an interview.

"When the song first starts out, it starts out sounding calm. Kind of like a couple doing foreplay", stated Middlesbrough in the interview. "As the song builds up, so does the passion between the couple. Then just when the song is about to end, its like climaxing in a sense. And then at the very end, when the song calms down again, its like a couple doing...well...whatever they do after they've done what they did. Smoke a cigarette or fall asleep or make out some more...I don't really know. However that is pretty much what the song sounds like - at least to me anyway."

Olivier sings the vocals on the song in his middle to low chest register. Throughout the song, his voice is layered except when sing ad-lib during the breakdown/middle eight and the second half of the song; the ad-lib choruses are also layered. Since the band purposefully did not come up with any words for the "chorus" of the song, Olivier ad-lib the chorus by doing various vocal inflections and group members Stephanie Kesh and Phillip Mandelbaum provide additional backing vocals throughout the chorus and much of the second half of the song as well. At the end of the song, Olivier whispers "you are so beautiful" before the song ends soon after. Olivier and Middlesbrough stated that they wanted all elements of the song, from its melody to its vocals, to sound "haunting but very very sexy". Olivier sings the song strongly but is also heard to be breathy and somewhat "male pixie-like", as described by Middlesbrough, as well.

The single mix for the song is slightly different than that of the album version, as it contains the use of Auto-Tune and the Icelandic language. The song starts off, like the original version, with just the music and no beat but continues on this way even after the first verse has started. After the first half of the first verse, a brief pause, accompanied by strings, is heard and then the rest of the song continues on with the beat. During the first half of the first verse, Olivier's voice is muffled and is also manipulated by AutoTune; after the brief pause, his voice returns to "normal" and the muffled/AutoTune vocal effect is no longer heard. Towards the end of the single mix, Olivier's whispers "You are so beautiful" twice in Icelandic and then again in English before the song cuts off abruptly.

Promotion
The single mix version of the song premiered on 2 May 2012 on the band's official website without any prior statement confirming that the song would be the third single from Syllabus. The promotional cover for the single was also revealed on the same day. After the song's premiere, the band announced that "Honeymoon Anthem" would be the third single lifted from Syllabus and later announced that the single would be released on 11 June 2012.

The band decided to use Icelandic culture and the Icelandic language itself as a theme to center its promotion around for the single. When the song premiered on the band's website, the title of the song was presented in Icelandic (as "Brúðkaupsferð þjóðsöngur"; English (literal): "Honeymoon national anthem"). The band also announced that they picked the release date of 11 June 2012 for the single because it falls on the anniversary of when Iceland became a republic nation on 17 June in 1944.

On the day the song premiered, two of the members of the band, Breckenridge and Olivier, were hospitalized. Breckenridge was hospitalized after he collapsed following headaches that were probably side effects of his January 2012 head injury; Olivier, who had just finished a recording session, experienced a sudden panic attack and mental collapse in the studio. Breckenrigde and Olivier were both eventually released separately from the hospital days apart from each other. Shortly after Olivier was released from the hospital, the band announced that they would be temporarily moving and living in Reykjavík, Iceland so they could "entrench themselves in Icelandic culture" possibly for promotional reasons for the single.

In May 2012, the release of the single was cancelled. After the single was cancelled, the band moved back to the UK from Iceland. When the single was re-announced as a single in the UK in December 2012, promotion continued for the song.

Release
The band confirmed days after "Honeymoon Anthem" premiered that the single would be released on 11 June 2012. The band chose this date for the single's release because it fell on the same week as the anniversary of when Iceland became a republic nation on 17 June 1944.

In May 2012, the band announced that they would be postponing and/or temporarily cancelling the release of the single due to a variety of issues regarding Gregory Preston Olivier's mental health recovery following his anxiety attack and nervous breakdown and conflicting interests in them wanting to begin promotion on their Olympic-themed "Teamwork" instead. The band hinted that the song would still be released as single from Syllabus sometime in the near future but "not exactly right now" as according to van Cleef.

In September 2012, the single was released internationally (except the US) as the album's fourth single following the band's success with "Teamwork". In October 2012, the single was released officially in the US. On 28 January 2013, the single was released in the UK.

Critical response
The song has received positive reviews from critics and the general public. Many critics and fans' complimented the song for being "sensual" and complimented the band for "showing their romantic side". The production and Olivier's vocal performance were also praised with many people describing his voice as "soothing", "sexy", "heart-melting", and "sensual". The lyrics were also praised for being "sensual" and "romantic".

When released in Iceland, the public there reacted to the song with overwhelming praise and complimented the band's inclusion of Icelandic culture in their song.

Awards
In October 2013, "Honeymoon Anthem" won the Q Award for Best Video, giving the band their first ever career win. In January 2014, the band won their first Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance for "Honeymoon Anthem".

Commercial performance
Outside of the UK, the song initially did not chart anywhere after its September 2012 international and October 2012 American release until November and December of that year. The single peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States while becoming their third number one single on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. The single has been certified 3x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and has sold three million copies in the US.

With the exception of Canada, where the single peaked at #55, but peaked at #2 on the Canadian alternative charts, and the Netherlands, where, as the band's debut single, it peaked at #16, the single managed to reach the top ten in all of the countries it was released in including Australia, Germany, and New Zealand. In Ireland, the single peaked at #1, becoming their first number one single there. The single has been certified Platinum in Australia, Germany, Ireland, and Canada, despite its rather low peak in the latter country. In Iceland, where it was released as the band's debut single there, the single peaked at #1 and received overwhelmingly positive from the Icelandic people for incorporating their culture in the song.

In February 2013, the single debuted at #9 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's first single to not peak at #3 and their first not to reach the top five; it is, however, the band's fourth consecutive top ten single. The single reached #6 on the UK Downloads Chart and the top twenty on the airplay charts in the UK as well. The single has since been certified Gold by the Urapopstar Recording Association Phonographic Society (URAPS) and sold over 212,000 copies.

Music video
A music video for the single has been shot and premiered in January 2013. The video was shot outside of Reykjavik, Iceland.

The video opens and mostly shows Olivier appearing apparently "frost-bitten" with blue skin and blue eyes with no iris. The rest of the band is shown doing random activities: Mandelbaum is seen floating in a volcanic pool which turns into a powerful fountain and that keeps him feet up in the air, Breckenridge is seen frozen when is icy exterior is blown off and he is seen smearing snow all over himself, and van Cleef is seen walking in the icy field with a Hawaiian shirt on eventually dancing a traditional Icelandic folk dance with a bunch of men in long blue cloaks. The video ends with each of the members apparently meeting their demise of sorts: the fountain that has Mandelbaum feet high in the air stops and Mandelbaum comes crashing down into the lake which has since been frozen since he's been up in the air and shatters when he lands sending shards of ice everywhere, Breckenridge becomes frozen again, and van Cleef continues to walking in the icy field as to assume he is lost. Olivier is seen laughing and staring blankly before he falls back, assuming he has succumbed to his "extreme" frost bite. The video ends with two ladies, one who is the Ice Princess and the other who is the Ice Queen, looking on at the events and actions of the band while smoking and drinking coffee. They ask themselves in Icelandic "what the fuck was that?" before they turn around and tend their own business while they stir up an ice storm as they leave.

The video received generally positive reviews who complimented the creativity of the video. van Cleef's choice of style in the video (wearing a Hawaiian shirt) was parodied by many.

In October 2013, the video won a Q Award for Best Video.