Satellites

About

Satellites opens Under the Radar Vol 2 and was written by Robbie Williams and Stuart Price, who also produced the track. Recorded during the sessions for Heavy Entertainment Show, it is a shimmering pop song inspired by Williams’ wife, Ayda Field. Price’s polished electronic production underpins one of Williams’ most affectionate tributes to his family life.

Williams described the lyric as a love letter to Ayda, mixing humour with heartfelt gratitude. “She’s Ivy League but one of us,” he sings, contrasting her sophistication with his self-deprecating self-portrait: “I’m bueno para nada, an addict, such a hot mess.” The song also contains one of his favourite lyrical images, a line he had attempted to place in several songs since Progress: “Every single city light seeking sleeping satellites of hope.”

Musically, Satellites blends a driving bassline, echoing guitars and Price’s trademark synth textures. The production gradually builds toward a widescreen chorus, evoking U2 and early 1990s arena pop. Its combination of grandeur and intimacy makes it both an album opener and a statement of renewed optimism following Williams’ darker material of the early 2010s.

“It’s about the love I have for my wife. In a nowhere garden, in a nowhere city, you can see our trail from here to Mars.”Robbie Williams

Satellites was well received by fans for its emotional sincerity and modern sound. Critics noted the track’s connection to Williams’ long-running collaboration with Price, who helped shape his electronic and disco-influenced style. As an introduction to Under the Radar Volume 2, it signalled an artist both grounded in family life and still searching for cosmic metaphors to describe love.