"Oxytocin" is a song by American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish from her second studio album, Happier Than Ever, released on July 30, 2021, through Darkroom and Interscope Records. She wrote it with its producer―her brother, Finneas O'Connell, who also provided backing vocals. An EDM, electronica, electropop, industrial pop and techno song, "Oxytocin" was the last track created for the album. While composing it, Eilish aimed to make it sound "insane" when performed live, envisioning sexual imagery for the lyrics.
The song has been described by music critics as "horny", "upbeat" and Eilish's "sexiest song yet". Named after the hormone oxytocin, which is produced during sex, the track talks about sexuality and experimentation of the artist. Sonically, it drew comparisons to works of Crystal Castles, Grimes, Nine Inch Nails and Timbaland, as well as to Eilish's debut studio album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019), especially its fifth single, "Bad Guy". Described as a fan favorite, "Oxytocin" received widespread acclaim from music critics praising its production, sentiment and vocal delivery.
"Oxytocin" charted in a number of countries upon the release of Happier Than Ever, including reaching the top 40 in Australia, Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Norway and the United Kingdom, while appearing at number 72 in the United States. Eilish performed the song for her Disney+ concert film Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles and at music festivals such as iHeartRadio Music Festival and Life Is Beautiful Music & Art Festival. "Oxytocin" was part of the set list of a 2022–2023 world tour in support of Happier Than Ever, interpolating elements of her 2017 single "Copycat".
Writing and recording
"Oxytocin" was written by Billie Eilish and Finneas, while the latter handled production and provided backing vocals. It was the last track created for Happier Than Ever, being recorded on February 16, 2021, in Finneas's basement studio; it replaced "What I Wanna Hear?" on its final track listing. The singer spoke about the creative process behind the song and said that it is named after the hormone of the same name, which is released due to love or childbirth. In an interview with The Guardian, Eilish talked about inspiration for the track, saying that "[t]here was flashing in [her] head", adding that she had sex images in her mind during the recording. Additionally, she admitted that in the song's background, barking of her dog Shark can be heard.
She also noted that the album had been "missing" a song that would expressly "be insane live", which was why "Oxytocin" was created. She also mentioned that while performing the song, she thinks about sex. The singer also said that "Oxytocin" is the "most satisfying" song and added that it is one of her favorite tracks from the album. Finneas was proud of how the song came out due to its "gated tremolo and distortion".
Music and lyrics Musically, "Oxytocin" is a dance, EDM, electronica, electropop, industrial pop and techno song, with elements of dubstep. It is set in the key of E minor, with a tempo of 125 beats per minute. Eilish's vocals range from E3 to B4, while her vocal performance has been described as "breathy whispers", "subtle", "steamy and slightly strained". The song contains a "techno pulse", "bursts of atonal synth", "upbeat", "heavy" and "eerie" bass, "lo-fi beats", "club groove", "evocative vocal echoes", and "hypnotic rhythm". Before the outro kicks in, there is a second of silence; Courteney Larrocca of Insider described the production of this moment as "overdrive".
Music critics have described the song's lyrics as "eroticized", "horny", and Eilish's "sexiest song yet". In the first verse, Eilish is "exploring the more raunchy side of a hookup", using the couplet, "If you only pray on Sunday, could you come my way on Monday / 'Cause I like to do things God doesn't approve of if she saw us". Later in the track, Eilish delves into her sexuality and experimentation; in the pre-chorus, she sings, "What would people say if they listen through the wall?". In the chorus, Eilish shouts, "You should really run away" over the bass, while in the post-chorus she croons, "I wanna do bad things to you". She finishes the second verse with much darker lyrics, Cause as long as you're still breathing / Don't you even think of leaving".
Critical reception
"Oxytocin" was met with widespread critical acclaim, with critics mostly praising its production, sentiment and vocal delivery. Ranking "Oxytocin" sixth out of the sixteen tracks on Happier Than Ever, Hannah Dailey of Billboard called the song "a rarity" from Eilish, as it is "overtly sexual", and noted that Eilish's "usually low-decibel voice" is raised to "a feral shout as she belts 'You should really run away. Dailey also noted that the production works "in tandem with Eilish's lyrics", as it "intensifies into a hungry, pounding beat". Gil Kaufman of the same publication described the beat of the song as "dramatic". Writing for NME, El Hunt linked "Oxytocin" to the "futuristic sound" of Eilish's debut studio album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019), when Carl Wilson from Slate called it "Bad Guy"-esque, due to "its keyboard and vocal stylizations". Another comparison to Eilish's debut album material was made in Hot Press article, where Ed Power called "Oxytocin" reminiscent of "Bad Guy", but with "some dubstep in its soul", additionally noting that the song has a "lurching" groove. The track was also heavily compared to the singer's earlier number in articles published on The Ringer, with the website's Rob Harvilla describing it as "the fastest, loudest, most hypnotic, and disruptive moment on [the album]". Vancouver Suns Stuart Derdeyn described the track as "hypnotic" and "chanting", commenting that it is "classic spooky Billie". For The A.V. Club, Alex McLevy called the track a "saucy ode to lust". Rolling Stones Brittany Spanos called its beat "slinky", while for the same publication, Angie Martoccio said that the song "should absolutely be made into a genre of its own". Larocca called the track "hot", while Callie Ahlgrim of Insider complimented Finneas's production. Emma Holbrook of The Forty-Five called the song's chorus one of the darkest lyrics on the album. ABC News's Mark Kennedy opined that the track starts off as "sexy come-on", which he called "appropriate" due to how the hormone the song got its name from controls reproduction. Additionally, he made a comment that the song "brilliantly shifts halfway through, turning lust into something darker". Writing for Cult MTL, Dave MacIntyre said that Eilish is "gliding over brother Finneas's glitchy production". In an article published by Gigwise, "Oxytocin" was paired with "Billie Bossa Nova" as a sign of "mature, more sultry evolution in Eilish's content".
In an article written for The Focus, Olivia Olphin said that "Oxytocin" continues "in the vein of previous single 'NDA', with low-fi beats and breathy vocals"; similarly, Ellen Peirson-Hagger of the New Statesman described the track as a "breathy, synth-heavy" song. Kate Solomon from i said that it is "all bedroom beats and sighs as Eilish officially enters her femme fatale era". Chris Willman of Variety complimented the song, since it "leans in harder on a beat to get you on your feet, it's a welcome breath of hot air", while the Los Angeles Timess Mikael Wood said that "[Eilish] rides a jackhammering club groove with giddy menace". Alex Swhear from Flood Magazine said that the track "nods at the sharp-edged propulsion of her early singles just as the listener becomes convinced that sort of thing won't be arriving". "Oxytocin" has been described as a "banger" by Salvatore Maicki of The Fader and Stuart Derdeyn of Vancouver Sun. Ahlgrim of Insider said that the track reminds her of a "neon-lit club" with "Eilish in the center"—"powerful and magnetic"—comparing it to the energy consumed by a supermassive black hole. In AllMusic, Neil Z. Yeung opined that the track "[throbs] to life with deep bass and a thick beat", calling it "lustful" and a "club hit in the making". Ed Power of The Quietus wrote that "[Eilish] radiates a nightmarish menace. It's half banger, half bad dream from which you cannot awaken". For Atwood Magazine, Mariel Fechik described the song as a "dark club track" and depicted that it adds a "much needed gut-punch to the album's first half". Pastes Jason Friedman called the song the "steamiest and sexiest track the songwriter has released thus far", which contains the same "energic magic" that defined Eilish's biggest hits "promising to demolish nightclub dance-floors when (if?) we get to make a truly safe return". Writing for MTV, Athena Serrano opined that "this is the perfect song to get your grind on". Miranda Sawyer from The Guardian said that the song reminds her of "dark clubs at 3am". Naming the track "ethereal" and an "unexpected album highlight", Holly Mosley of Contact Music wrote that it "make[s] us yearn for the dance floor". It has been labeled as a "bop" and "whiplash" with a "skull-gripping beat" and "a bit forced techno spirit" by Jordi Bardají from Jenesaispop.
"Oxytocin" received many comparitions to other artists' works. For The Line of Best Fit, Matthew Kent saw that the song is "club-ready", calling it a "whisper-pop anthem" and "hot-and-heavy". Kent asserted that the production from Finneas is reminiscent of Timbaland, with Eilish "invoking the spirit" of Nelly Furtado's Loose (2006). Alhrgrim also likened the song to Timbaland and Furtado, as well as to Grimes and late Sofi Tukker. Quinn Moreland of Pitchfork called "Oxytocin" an "obvious hit", writing that the song "places Eilish's famous breathy whispers deep inside the walls of a dark, steamy club" and that it "starts off sultry, all body rolls, before it turns on a dime and launches itself out a window in a blitz of abrasive synths à la Crystal Castles or early Grimes". Another Crystal Castles comparition was made in Stereogums article written by Tom Breihan. For Spin, Ilana Kaplan said that the track "creates an atmospheric '90s rave scene that evokes early Nine Inch Nails through gripping synths"; The New York Timess Lindsay Zoladz also found a similarity between "Oxytocin" and Nine Inch Nails music. In Chorus.fm article, the stuff was very keen of the song, with Aaron Mook and Adam Grundy comparing it to aforementioned band Nine Inch Nails, the former also complimented placement of "Oxytocin" after "Billie Bossa Nova" and "My Future", whereas Garrett Lemon placed it as an "album highlight" amongst the album's title track and "NDA".