Honeymoon Anthem

"Honeymoon Anthem" is a song by American indie pop band Curriculum. Written by Greg Pledger, Phillip Mandelbaum, Wyatt van Cleef, Dana Breckenridge, and Stephanie Kesh, and produced by Shawn Middlesbrough, the song was supposed to be released as the third single from the band's debut album Syllabus on 11 June 2012. Instead the song was released in September 2012 as the album's fourth and final single; it was not released in the UK though it was originally planned to be. The song premiered on 2 May 2012 on the band's website without prior announcement but in May 2012 the single was first "temporarily postponed" due to issues with some of the band members before finally being released in September 2012.

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, managed to 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.

Background and writing
"Honeymoon Anthem" was first written as a poem by Gregory Preston Athanasiadis when he was fifteen years old. Athanasiadis 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. Athanasiadis 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. Athanasiadis 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 th

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."

Athanasiadis 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, Athanasiadis 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, Athanasiadis whispers "you are so beautiful" before the song ends soon after. Athanasiadis and Middlesbrough stated that they wanted all elements of the song, from its melody to its vocals, to sound "haunting but very very sexy". Athanasiadis 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, Athanasiadis' 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, Athanasiadis 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 Athanasiadis, were hospitalized. Breckenridge was hospitalized after he collapsed following headaches that were probably side effects of his January 2012 head injury; Athanasiadis, who had just finished a recording session, experienced a sudden panic attack and mental collapse in the studio. Breckenrigde and Athanasiadis were both eventually released separately from the hospital days apart from each other. Shortly after Athanasiadis 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.

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. Formats or further details of the single have yet to be announced.

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 Athanasiadis' 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 as the album's fourth single following the band's success with "Teamwork". The song was not released in the UK though it originally was planned to be released there. The band planned, instead, to release and promote "That's What They Always Say" there but that single was also shelved and postponed.

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 Athanasiadis' 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".

Commercial performance
Since the single has been cancelled in the UK, it will not chart on the UK Singles Chart. When it was still considered a single, the single managed to chart at #4 on the UK Next In Line Airplay chart, which is equivalent to peaking at #44 since the chart is a continuation of the main chart that includes ten spots for songs that have not yet charted on the main airplay chart.

Outside of the UK, the song has not charted yet.

Music video
A music video for the single has been shot. Since the single has been temporarily shelved, the video is also being shelved until further notice from the band or their label Blacklight. The band announced that the video will be revealed soon on VEVO and YouTube.