What's That Song From the Xbox Kinect Online Video?

'Distant Life,' Film School

In keeping with its rivals the Nintendo Wii and Playstation Move, Xbox is heavily promoting Kinect, its new movement-oriented video game adapter. To aid this process online, the company enlisted the Film School song 'Distant Life' as the soundtrack to a scene of families and friends coming together while exploring their Kinects. Kids, teenagers and adults playing simulated sports and running in place in their living rooms visually accompany the song's electro-pop-punk melody and uptempo beats.

Film School vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist Greg Bertens told Spinner about the marriage of the commercial and their song.

"'Distant Life' has a bouncy, energetic, spazzy sorta feel, and [Kinect] requires you to jump around like a lunatic to score points," he says. "So, yeah, I think the two will most likely live happily ever after."

The song can be found on Film School's fourth album, 'Fission,' released on Aug. 31, 2010. Although at face value the song is lively and upbeat, the meaning behind it is a bit more serious.

"It's about being critical of the world to the point of distancing yourself from everyone and everything," says Bertens. "And that's what's awesome about songs in advertising -- you can have a song that musically feels one way but lyrically says the opposite."

Critical lyrics aside, 'Distant Life' makes for an appropriate pairing with Kinect's brand. The song is on par with other high-energy Kinect marketing, such as the use of LCD Soundsystem's 'Yeah' for an October spot. And with, as reported by the New York Post, over $500 million invested with Microsoft in advertising the Kinect, the software giant has free rein to choose the most dynamic music available. This turns out to be quite the feather in Film School's cap.