Although guitarist Jamie Hince didn't have any preconceived notions about the direction of Anglo-American indie rock duo The Kill's fourth album, Blood Pressures, he told Spinner this song and "Satellite" gave him an idea of how he wanted to shape the music. "I really didn't have to sit down and write songs," he said of the process. "I worked on [ideas] that were already there. Alison (Mosshart) was off on tour with Dead Weather so I had a lot of time coming up on stuff on my own. I wanted it to have some kind of dark, musical sound. I used a lot of low, low end on that. I wanted it to sound like dancehall music."

Hince added that his fondness for Roxy Music's early work helped steer the direction. "I love that whole multi-layered thing," he said. "At first glance, the Kills seem the opposite of that. But I was digging out a Mellotron and using different sounds. After four records, you get tired of what guitars sound like."