Release and Critical Reception
"Northern Lites" was released on CD, cassette and 7" on 10 May 1999 and reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. The cover features a model of a "three-eyed, four-armed, squid-headed Eskimo warrior" designed by artist Pete Fowler. The warrior is shown holding "two portable poles of latitude and longitude" and has "the heating regulator of the world" around his neck. The track was included on the band's greatest hits compilation album Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1, issued in 2004.
"Northern Lites" received mostly positive reviews. The NME listed the song as the "Single of the Week" on its release, with reviewer Johnny Cigarettes stating that the track was "head and shoulders above anything released this or most other weeks". Cigarettes saw "Northern Lites" as indicative of the Super Furry Animals' "genius idiosyncrasy and elegantly eccentric class" and described the song as "somewhere between a Mexican cocktail bar, a '60s surf party, a Vegas lounge show and a really good acid trip". Cigarettes compared the vocal harmonies on the track to those of The Beach Boys and stated that the song has a "classic, Bacharach" quality" although he did criticise the indecipherable lyrics which he felt could prevent the record from "its deserved 23-week residence at Number One". In a later review of Guerrilla, the NME described the song as a "seamless fusion of tumbling xylophones and Caribbean brass". The magazine listed the track at number 3 in their single of the year list for 1999. "Northern Lites" was also awarded "Single of the Week" in the 15 May 1999 issue of the Melody Maker by guest reviewers Gay Dad, who described the song as "twisted and psychedelic". Echoing the views of Johnny Cigarettes, Gay Dad likened the song to the work of Bacharach and Hal David and complained that they could not fully understand Rhys's lyrics, as his vocals were too low in the mix.
Writing for Mojo, James McNair described "Northern Lites" as a mix of "Tijuana brass, steel drums, and itch-scratching Latin percussion" and claimed that the "great" song was "one of the most frothily inventive pop confections" since Super Furry Animals' 1998 track, "Ice Hockey Hair". In Q, reviewer Peter Kane stated that the song's combination of "cheesy calypso sway" and "Tijuana brass" were wonderful. Dave Simpson, writing in The Guardian, claimed that the song was "possibly the first hit to be massively influenced by Tito Puente." In The Independent, Tim Perry stated that the "undeniably brilliant" "Northern Lites" was one of the highlights of the Guerrilla album. In a 2005 review of the reissued Guerrilla, Pitchfork's Marc Hogan described the track as "horn-laden tropicalia"; in an earlier review of Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1, he had called "Northern Lites" "'Deadweight'-era Beck tropicalia". Reviewing Songbook... for PopMatters, Zeth Lundy described "Northern Lites" as "Brazilian-infected", while Ian Wade, reviewing the album for the BBC, called the song an "indie/calypso crossover" and Alan Woodhouse, reviewing Songbook... for the NME labelled the track an "irresistible Caribbean-flavoured tune." Marc Hogan of Pitchfork claimed that the single's b-sides, including the "shiny, distorted mid-tempo number" "This, That and the Other", pale beside "Northern Lites" and the other tracks on Guerilla although they "do manage to scratch the itch for more SFA".
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