Ethan von murmurs.com und Warner Bros. über Singles Im Allgemeinen und jene für Collapse Into Now im Besonderen:
A „single“ in todays market can mean many things.
The definition you think of is what is referred to as „the song for radio“ behind the scenes. That means the song is defined as the song to get played and we „service“ the song to radio through CD’s or digitally.
Take for example CiN:
– Discoverer – was not a „single“ per se, but was the first released track, online and serviced to radio.
– It Happened Today – iTunes Pre-order instant grat
– Oh My Heart – NPR and German single
Mine Smell Like Honey is the US single. UBerlin for Europe (outside of Germany).
A single is basically a song that might not be the „fan“ favorite, and most certainly is often not the best on the record (maybe this time that might be different with Uberlin). In the US, its usually the track that you can pick up right in the middle and identify as being from the band, or make you wonder „who was that???“
Just remember, singles (at least for radio) are not directed at you all, who already know a record is coming. It’s directed at all of those writing glowing reviews of the track.
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Until you risk it you don't know what it is.