‘Wild Frontier’ single turns 10!
On February 23, 2015, The Prodigy released Wild Frontier — the third single from the album ‘The Day Is My Enemy’. In 2025, this release marks its 10th anniversary, and to celebrate the occasion, we decided to recall the key moments related to the track.
The single was announced on February 21, 2015, via the band’s social media, while the full premiere traditionally took place on BBC Radio 1 in Zane Lowe’s show on February 23. The official digital release followed the next day, February 24, when Wild Frontier became available on major music and streaming platforms.
The physical release was delayed by almost a month: a 6-track CD EP included the original track, remixes (which hardly anyone remembers today), and rare instrumental versions of Wild Frontier and Nasty.
Additionally, a special promo disc was released with a shortened radio version (3:44), and for Russian platforms, an even more shortened edit was prepared, lasting only 45 seconds with an unusual chorus structure. Later, an exclusive official remix by Shadow Child was released, which, for unknown reasons, was not included in the main tracklist of the single.
Wild Frontier (VK Preview) | 0:45
The single confidently entered the top of pop charts and was well received by a broad audience. This was not surprising, as its sound continued the Invaders Must Die concept: 8-bit melodies, uncomplicated breakbeat, vibrant synthesizers, and “slogan” pop choruses produced by Tim Hutton — the same ghostwriter who helped with the hit Omen.
However, not all fans were thrilled. Many were expecting the return of the aggressive, “psychosomatic” The Prodigy, especially since before the release of ‘The Day Is My Enemy’, Liam Howlett had repeatedly mentioned a certain “violent sound”, hinting at an upcoming raw and aggressive sound. Instead, The Prodigy seemed to have found a successful formula for a templated pop-song format and continued moving in that direction, which was disappointing for some fans. The author of this article even caught himself several times confusing ‘Wild Frontier’ with We Live Forever while writing this piece, nearly adding several paragraphs about another similarly formula track by mistake.
Interestingly, a similar kind of criticism can be found in the band’s Instagram comments during the release period:
@Swrvski: “This is not what I’m waiting for, and I think your previous album, guys, was more ‘for 2015’ than these last 3 singles. Not bad, but nothing interesting. This music is not for the jilted generation, but I still love you, guys. Keep the vibes!”
@TheProdigy: “Sounds like u best wait down the road for a bus then.”
Liam Howlett revealed that he wrote Wild Frontier while on tour, working on the track right in hotel rooms — and almost always while being drunk. According to him, this creative approach suits him perfectly:
“I wrote this in my hotel room after we’d been to this after-gig party and I was pissed. I always write when I’m drinking. I like to be off my tits when I write. I dunno why… I like that edge. I really fuckin’ love working that way. I really fuckin’ enjoyed doing this record… a lot.”
There was also a lot of talk about the “analog sound” that the band had returned to. However, it’s not entirely clear what kind of analog sound was being referred to, given that the track was essentially written on a laptop in hotel rooms. Additionally, the main pad melody in the track comes from the Sylenth1 VST synthesizer, specifically its default arpeggio preset 392: Firefly Arp, which can also be heard in ‘Firefly’ by Popeska. Moreover, the beat structure once again features loop from Mental Cube – Chile Of The Bass Generation, which by that time had already been used in more than ten other The Prodigy tracks.
- Sample: pad & melody
- Sample source: LennarDigital Sylenth1 VST – Presets – 392: ARP Firefly
- Also can be found in: Popeska – Firefly [2012]
- Sample: break
- Sample source: Mental Cube – Chile Of The Bass Generation [Chile Of The Bass Generation, 1990]
Perhaps this fact influenced the decision to make the track’s intro quite short. However, in the KillSonik remix, the intro turned out much longer and more expressive. Liam liked it so much that he simply took the remix intro and inserted it in place of the original one for live performances.
However, this once played a cruel joke on the band. On December 9, 2017, at a concert in Germany, something went wrong: after the updated intro, the KillSonik remix continued playing instead of the planned original version. Noticing the mistake, Liam abruptly cut the track, and tried to play it again. But nothing came out of the second attempt either, and then the band simply moved on to the next song in the setlist.
The official video for ‘Wild Frontier’ was released shortly after the single. The director was Dutch animator Mascha Halberstad, who used stop-motion animation (you can read more about video clip creation in our special article). Despite the high quality of the work, the video’s style, like the track itself, feels more like a children’s story than aggressive electro-punk. This contrast is especially noticeable when compared to brutal videos like Spitfire or Breathe.
The single’s cover design did not feature plush toys, although a funny bear could have fit well into the overall infantilised concept. Instead, the design was kept in a classic mystical style, created by Moritz Resl.
The original photograph from the ‘Wild Frontier’ cover is over a hundred years old. Taken in 1914 at the Tibidabo amusement park in Barcelona, the image captures Portuguese modernist artist Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso (1887–1918) and his beloved, Lúcia Meinardi Peccetto. Initially, the photograph was kept in Amadeo’s personal archive and remained unpublished during his lifetime. However, in the 2000s, part of his archive was digitized, and the image began to gain popularity. It was first published in the 2007 album Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso – Fotobiografia, and a year later, it was uploaded online as part of the Flickr Commons project.
The photographer remains unknown to this day, which led to the image being released under a No Known Copyright Restrictions license, allowing free distribution and use. As a result, the high-quality original appeared on both free platforms like Wikipedia and Flickr and paid stock photo services.
In the early 2010s, the image rapidly spread across the internet, becoming the basis for countless memes and demotivational posters. In January 2011, Austrian designer Moritz Resl also used it in one of his collages, adding white circles over the characters’ eyes. This altered version gave the image a new wave of viral popularity and even made it onto the cover of e-book ‘From Dark Corners: Thirteen Unusual Tales from Famous Authors’ four years before the release of ‘Wild Frontier’.
Moritz for All Souvenirs: “One day Liam reached out to me via email. He told me he found one of my artworks online and asked if he can use it as the single’s cover. After I agreed, we talked about the typography. I designed a few options, sent them over and one was picked. I had done the piece some time before Liam reached out. I posted it on my website and it was picked up by several blogs and websites. Initially I was inspired by a video game called LIMBO.”
A few days before the single’s release, a short promo video dropped, featuring the animated version of the cover for the first time. However, Moritz himself was not involved in creating the video—it was likely produced by the label or friends of The Prodigy.
The original 1914 photograph continues to be used in various music releases, but arguably, its most famous appearance remains the ‘Wild Frontier’ single cover by The Prodigy.
Headmasters: SIXSHOT
Additional thanks to: Split, Moritz Resl
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