It earned its full-length edit. The version played on radio that helped propel it to a No. But for the full impact of "Levels," all of its full-length version was needed, with peaks that rose and crested throughout in near-perfect symmetry, as majestic as the mountains cartoonishly superimposed in the background of the song's music video.
The ringtone-of-the-Gods hook. Like Orbital's "Chime" or Darude's "Sandstorm" before it, Avicii's "Levels" uncovered a synth hook of unnerving simplicity and unthinkable potency. No math to explain this thing's power: Trying to unpack the brilliance here would be like asking Keith Richards to explain why the "Satisfaction" riff still whips Boomers into a frenzy a half-century later. But it was epochal essentially from first listen, a hook that fills your head until it runs out of room, then seeps its way through your entire bloodstream and just keeps going.
That it might not even be the most memorable refrain of "Levels" is about the only thing you need to know about the song's greatness. The clouds-parting break. After the synth melody and skipping beat drop get their first extended workout, the hook dissipates into a ghostly repeating echo and the drums drop out entirely, as the skies open up a distant voice appears to arrive from on high. You don't know what's coming, but you know it's going to be big.
The euphoric vocal sample. But this was always the way the vocal was meant to be reappropriated: a heavenly siren's call beaming down on the masses, a burst of sunlight after what feels like weeks of synth-storming. The rising synth whistle on the second go-round. After "Levels" finishes off round one with the James sample, it gears back up for a second time through, virtually identical to the first time -- except for a briefly burbling whistle sound that augments the hook at around the mark, rising to the top of the song like carbonation in a glass of Coke.
It sets the second run through apart, allowing the song to reach another The title. Indeed, "Levels" doesn't appear in the song's lyrics -- all two lines of them -- but remains an inspired title for Avicii's signature composition, which is very clearly all about elevation, in all of its many forms. The literal elevators on the single cover are a little on the nose, but forgivable -- few songs this decade brought listeners higher.
It mashes up with everything. There was a two-year period after the song's release where you could search "Avicii Levels [Random Contemporary Hit Song]" into YouTube and be all but guaranteed to get at least a couple results of amateur DJs trying to mash the songs up.
Some of them worked better than others, maybe -- a blend of "Levels" and Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" was a particular fixture of star DJ sets for a while -- but none of them sounded totally unlistenable, with the instrumental's power always managing to carry the day. It sounded amazing at festivals It was a cheap crowd-pleaser for less-adventurous DJs, sure, but it still felt like a moment whenever whoever was spinning deigned to drop it -- even though you knew that every time, the music was gonna be cut at the vocal break for the audience to belt it out entirely on their own.
Needless to say, they were usually up to the task. But it also sounded amazing at weddings. Premium Digital access, plus: Convenient access for groups of users Integration with third party platforms and CRM systems Usage based pricing and volume discounts for multiple users Subscription management tools and usage reporting SAML-based single sign-on SSO Dedicated account and customer success teams.
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