Kylie Wiki
Register
Advertisement
In My Arms
In My Arms
Single by Kylie Minogue
From the album X
B-side "Carried Away"  · "Cherry Bomb"  · "Do It Again"
Released 15 February 2008 (2008-02-15)
Recorded 2007;
EMI Publishing Studios  · Olympic Studios (London)
Genre Synthpop  · dance-pop
Length 3:32
Label Parlophone
Writer(s) Kylie Minogue  · Calvin Harris  · Richard Stannard  · Paul Harris  · Julian Peake
Producer(s) Calvin Harris  · Richard Stannard
Kylie Minogue singles chronology
Wow In My Arms All I See
X track listing
"Like Drug"
(2)
"In My Arms"
(3)
"Speakerphone"
(4)
Music Video
Kylie_Minogue_-_In_My_Arms

"In My Arms" is a song by Kylie Minogue from her tenth studio album, X (2007). The track was written by Kylie, Calvin Harris, Richard "Biff" Stannard, Paul Harris and Julian Peake. It was produced by Calvin Harris and Stannard. The song was released as the worldwide second single from the album on 16 February 2008, while it served as the third single in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. It also made an appearance on her 2012 greatest hits album, The Best of Kylie Minogue. The song was introduced by Harris while she was recording in a studio in Brighton.

"In My Arms" is a synthpop inspired song, which features elements of retro and dance music as well. Lyrically, the song is about a lover by saying how it would feel in their arms. "In My Arms" received generally favourable reviews from some music critics, with some praising the lyrics and deeming it as one of the best tracks on the album. However, some reviewers were critical towards the production of the song. Commercially, "In My Arms" was generally successful, peaking inside the top ten in countries including Romania, Belgium, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. However, the song experienced lower success in her native Australia, where it peaked at thirty-five, becoming her lowest charting single of the decade since "Cowboy Style".

The music video for "In My Arms" was directed by Melina Matsoukas and filmed in Los Angeles, California, along with the video for "Wow". Kylie has performed the song on three of her concert tours. The first being the KylieX2008 Tour, where it featured her as a coachman in the 19th century, where the backdrop was only black and white. She additionally performed the song on her North American tour For You, For Me and Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour. More recently, it was performed on her Kiss Me Once Tour in 2014.

Background and release[]

Before the production of X, Kylie was diagnosed with breast cancer on 17 May 2005. leading to the postponement of the remainder of her Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour and her withdrawal from the Glastonbury Festival. While recovering in Melbourne, Kylie began writing lyrics towards the end of her cancer treatment in mid-2006, having not worked on any music for the previous year. Due to the recovery time following her cancer, X was the first album Kylie had consciously prepared for the recording of, having previously been engaged for much of her career in an endless cycle of record, release and tour.

Originally, "In My Arms" was meant to serve as the lead single from the album; this however changed when a demo version was leaked online, alongside early versions of "Sensitized" and "Stars". Therefore, the song served as the album's second single worldwide, while it was the third single in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Because of this, the aftermath single was "Wow", which was the second single in those countries. "In My Arms" became Kylie's first single to be issued on 7" vinyl since 1997's "Some Kind of Bliss".

Reception[]

Critical response[]

"In My Arms" garnered positive reviews from pop music critics. Tom Ewing in a review for Pitchfork Media compared the song to French electronic music duo Justice and wrote that Kylie "bounces around the tune with gusto". Prefix Magazine reviewer Bruce Scott described it as "fuzzed-out" and "synth heavy", and wrote that it was "full of the kind of exuberant charm that made a track like 'Love at First Sight' a past hit". According to Evan Sawdey from PopMatters, the song is "a track that absolutely demands your attention."

Mark Sutherland from Billboard gave a positive review, writing, "You'll search in vain for insight into her recent personal traumas, but there's still plenty of heart and soul [...] her best batch of tunes in a while." Peter Robinson from The Observer said about the song that "the high points are best viewed as four great tracks for her next greatest hits collection rather than any reflection of this album's cohesion." Jax Spike from About.com considered it as a sublime track "which flow evenly throughout and are definitely great songs to pass the time by at your favorite skating alley."

Nevertheless, "In My Arms" received negative reviews. In a review for Allmusic, Christopher True was not impressed with "In My Arms" and called the song "cold, calculated dance-pop". Joan Anderman from The Boston Globe said that the song is an "icy dance-pop anthem." Dave Hughes from Slant Magazine, wrote, "the filmsy, nearly-punk Calvin Harris production 'In My Arms', which is essentially what a neon-orange feather boa would sound like if it were a song."

Chart performance[]

In Belgium, the track debuted on the Flemish singles chart at number thirty-three on 3 February 2008. The following week it rose to number fourteen. The track was also successful on Belgium's Walloon singles chart where it reached number eleven. "In My Arms" reached number eight in Greece and Germany—where it became Kylie's first top ten single since 2003's "Slow"—, as well as number ten in France on the physical chart and number two on the downloads chart, becoming her biggest hit in France since 2001's "Can't Get You Out of My Head". Elsewhere, the song reached the top five in the Czech Republic and Turkey, the top ten in Slovakia and Switzerland, and the top twenty in Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden.

The single entered the UK Singles Chart at number sixty-nine on downloads alone, peaking at number ten three weeks later. In Australia, "In My Arms" became Kylie's lowest-charting single in a decade (since 1998's "Cowboy Style"), peaking at number thirty-five and spending only two weeks in the top fifty. In the United States, though the song was not released officially, it received moderate airplay, charting on the American radio airplay chart in the first day of the plays at American radio.

Music video[]

The music video for "In My Arms" was directed by Melina Matsoukas and filmed in Los Angeles, California, along with the video for "Wow". There are five main sequences: the first features Kylie dressed in a crimson and white-chequered outfit, designed by Gareth Pugh (a piece worn by Irish singer Róisín Murphy in her "Overpowered" video the previous year), with futuristic sunglasses; the second has Kylie singing into a microphone, on a blue recording room; the third scene is with a troupe of dancers; the fourth features Kylie in a yellow dress dancing in a pink box; and in the final scene she dances in front of a giant fan wearing a Dolce & Gabbana dress. As the video concludes, the five scenes are intercut and gradually fade. The video premiered on the Internet on 29 January 2008. It premiered on television stations across Europe on 31 January 2008. "In My Arms" is Kylie's most watched video on YouTube, with over fourteen million views as of 21 March 2010.

Spanish version[]

EMI Music asked Mexican singer-songwriter Aleks Syntek to record some vocals in Spanish for the song in early 2008. The song was first published through Syntek's officialYouTube channel on 24 April 2008, and was later confirmed by EMI and the Mexican press that the song was indeed real and was set to be released to Mexican radio stations in the last week of April. It was later confirmed that the song would be included on Syntek's compilation album, Best of 1988–2008, released in Mexico in June 2008. A special Mexican edition of X was also planned for release in May, but it was then delayed to 26 August 2008.

Formats and track listings[]

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "In My Arms".

Live performances[]

Since the song was released, "In My Arms" has been performed at all of Kylie's tours bar the Anti Tour. In 2008, Kylie performed the song on her KylieX2008 world tour, promoting the album X. It was performed as the last song in the act entitled "Black Versus White". This was the fourth act in the Opening Night set order, which the song was followed by a performance of "Love at First Sight" which ended the act, the seventh in the Main Set and Open Air / Amphitheater sets and fifth in the Festival set, where "In My Arms" finished all three. Kylie then performed the song on her North American tour in later 2009. It was served as the last song of the sets until the encore. The song was then performed on Kylie's Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour in 2011. It was a more rock-oriented version of the song, and was performed after a remixed version of "Confide in Me" and a rock version of "Can't Get You Out of My Head". Kylie wore a big, open bottomed holographic dress. The song appeared on Kylie's Kiss Me Once Tour where it served as the second song after a performance of "Les Sex". The song was also performed on the Kylie Summer 2015 mini-tour as the second song in the set following a performance of "Better the Devil You Know". Kylie performed the song at her headline set of the GRLS! Festival in 2020, a festival with an all-female line-up, in Brazil. The song closed the first section of the show; this performance would mark the first time that the song had been performed since the 2015 summer shows.

Personnel[]

  • Kylie Minogue – lead vocals
  • Calvin Harris – producer
  • Richard "Biff" Stannard – producer
  • Geoff Pesche – mastering

Credits adapted from the X liner notes.

Charts[]

Release history[]

Region Date Format Label
Germany 15 February 2008
  • CD single
  • CD maxi single
  • digital download
  • 12" single
EMI
France 25 February 2008
  • CD single
  • digital download
United Kingdom 5 May 2008
  • CD single
  • digital download
  • 7" single
Parlophone

Lyrics[]

How do you describe a feeling?
I've only ever dreamt of this
Oh

DJ's spinning up my favorite song
Hurry up and get a groove on
Life fantastic, and it won't be long
Don't let the moment slip away

'Cause you and I could find a pleasure
No one else has ever known
Feels like it is now or never
Don't wanna be alone

How does it feel in my arms?
How does it feel in my arms?
Do you want it? Do you need it?
Can you feel it? Tell me
How does it feel in my arms?

Got a feeling this is something strong
All I want to do is move on
No more wondering where I belong
So never go away

'Cause you and I are guilty pleasure
No one else has ever known
Feels like it is now or never
Don't want to be alone

How does it feel in my arms?
(How does it feel in my arms?)
How does it feel in my arms?
Do you want it? Do you need it?
Can you feel it? Tell me
How does it feel in my arms?

Do-do-do-do-do
Do-do-do-do-do
Do-do-do-do-do
Oh yeah, yeah
Do-do-do-do-do
Do-do-do-do-do
Do-do-do-do-do
Oh yeah, yeah
I'm listening

How does it feel in my arms?
(How does it feel in my arms?)
How does it feel in my arms?
Do you want it? Do you need it?
Can you feel it? Tell me (Oh)
How does it feel in my arms?

Advertisement