“Ex’s & Oh’s” is the debut single by American recording artist Elle King for her debut studio album, Love Stuff (2015). It was released September 23, 2014 as the album’s lead single via RCA Records. The song achieved success in the rock genre, peaking at number 1 on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart, and later crossed over to adult pop radio. In June 2015, “Ex’s & Oh’s” was certified Gold by Music Canada. “Ex’s & Oh’s” reached the top of the Alternative Songs chart in September 2015, becoming only the second song by a solo female to reach the top since 1996 after Lorde achieved the feat in 2013 with “Royals”. The song also became King’s first top-10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Ex’s & Oh’s” received two nominations at the 58th Grammy Awards: Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song.
Composition
“Ex’s & Oh’s” is an uptempo rock song that blends elements of alternative rock, blues rock and Southern rock. The song was written by Elle King with the song’s producer, Dave Bassett and credits it with helping her shape the sound of the album. Its instrumentation includes the banjo, guitar and drums and is influenced by country music. The song’s lyrics describe the narrator’s past relationships with needy men and her tendency to “[chew] men up and eat them” King describes how her ex-boyfriends are like ghosts, they always want to come back to her. She also explains how her feelings toward her boyfriends quickly shift and her carelessness over the relationship.
Critical reception
“Ex’s & Oh’s” received acclaim from most music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic labelled the song one of the highlights of Love Stuff, writing “When King walks a fine line between rock crunch and soul testifying, there’s some fire.” Entertainment blog Renowned for Sound rated the song 4.5 stars out of 5; reviewer Marcus Floyd praised both King’s storytelling ability and its catchy production (“it just has this attractive sound that makes you want to hear it again and again”). Bradley Stern wrote a very positive review of the song for MuuMuse in which he described the song as “ballsy, brash and profoundly #unapologetic.”
Music video
The music video for “Ex’s & Oh’s” premiered on May 1, 2015. The video begins with King’s character kicking her boyfriend out of their car in the middle of a desert, and then focuses largely on a barbecue party thrown by King. Featuring many scantily-clad male characters and scenes with clear sexual innuendos, the video subverts the objectification of women common in contemporary music videos, and has been praised by critics for this role reversal. On the other hand, British website Popjustice described the video as “100% terrible”
Live performances
On October 22, 2014 King performed the song in Brooklyn for Paste Magazine.
On February 17, 2015 King performed the song on The Today Show.
On April 3, 2015 King performed the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
On October 26, 2015 King performed the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
One December 16, 2015 King preformed the song on TFI Friday Christmas Special in the UK
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