"Cosmic Girl" is the second single from British funk and acid jazz band Jamiroquai's third studio album, Travelling Without Moving (1996). The song was released in the United Kingdom on 25 November 1996 via Sony Soho Square and in the United States in 1997 via Work Group. It achieved great chart success, peaking at 6 on the UK Singles Chart. The song also reached No. 3 in Italy, No. 4 in Iceland, and No. 10 in Finland. The accompanying music video was directed by Adrian Moat and filmed in Spain. The B-side to the single is an instrumental, "Slipin' 'N' Slidin'", a song originating from another Jamiroquai track called "Mr Boogie", which was a live-only song. "Slipin 'N' Slidin'", just like "Mr Boogie", also has a vocal version.
Composition
"Cosmic Girl" is a disco song, based on rhythmic "looped beats" "to give it an off-centre, otherworldly" sound. The syncopated rhythm contains 10 pulses which occur inside a 32-beat pattern, with pulses on beats 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 27, and 30. Coincidentally, the first four beats of this pattern are the same as the George Gershwin song "I Got Rhythm". Jamiroquai's psychedelic lyric evokes a spacey environment, using terms such as "zero gravity", "hyperspace", "galaxy" and "quasar". A disco-era aura is achieved by incorporating early electronic synthesizers along with disco-style string parts also produced by synthesizers.
Performance
While the single, and especially its chart performance, received mixed reviews from critics, it has become one of the better-known tracks of the band, and a concert staple. Live versions usually last for 7–8 minutes, nearly double the duration of the album version. In 2006, it was reissued as part of the "Classic Club Mixes" series, which also included "Space Cowboy", "Deeper Underground", "Love Foolosophy" and "Alright". In 2019, it was remixed by French DJ Dimitri From Paris.
In the United Kingdom alone, the song has sold 250,580 copies as of March 2017, and is also their second-most-streamed track, with more than 110 million plays on Spotify and a further 75 million views on YouTube.
Critical reception
Justin Chadwick from Albumism wrote, "Replete with synth and string-blessed rhythms, the propulsive, disco-tinged "Cosmic Girl" finds Jay Kay serenading an irresistible, otherworldly woman akin to "some baby Barbarella”." J.D. Considine from The Baltimore Sun called it "delightfully loopy". Larry Flick from Billboard described the song as "dreamy" and "more radio-friendly". He noted that here, Jamiroquai "craftily combines classic soul nuggets with the disco-soaked house music that has everyone gleefully twirling these days. The album version sparks with live instrumentation that breathes considerable depth into the chorus, while David Morales' remix has a more glossy tone that will sound awesome on a crowded club floor." Caroline Sullivan from The Guardian stated in her review of the album, that "Cosmic Girl", "which employs buoyant Earth, Wind and Fire-style harmonies, is fine".
Daisy & Havoc from Music Week'''s RM Dance Update praised the track, giving it five out of five. They added, ""Sends me into hyperspace when I see her pretty face..." – and it's not just the lyrics that are harping back to some of disco's more amusing space-age phases on this Jamiroquai single. The band's own mixes are totally groovy – combining some very funky sounds with some top disco strings and swirls and dusted lightly with the aforementioned silly but excellent vocals. With Morales mixes and the single mix still to come, this far north 'Cosmic Girl' is already a massive hit and bound to get bigger and bigger." Ted Kessler from NME called it a "bittersweet" gem, noting the singer's "fairy-lit disco" on the track. A reviewer from People Magazine declared it as a "mind-tripping rump-shaker", that "wrap up in all of four minutes and actually leave you wanting more."
Music video
The music video for the song was directed by Adrian Moat and was filmed at the Cabo de Gata, Spain. It depicts three famous supercars driving and racing each other through several highways and mountain roads across a desert landscape from clear daylight to dawn. The cars on the video are a black Ferrari F355 GTS, a purple Lamborghini Diablo SE30 and a red Ferrari F40. Jay Kay appears to be driving the purple Lamborghini with Stuart Zender on the co-pilot seat, but the driver of the black Ferrari is not shown in detail. It has four different edits: Versions 1–3, and the so-called 'Jay's cut' version.