Since I Left You (song) - Background and Composition

Background and Composition

The Avalanches started working on their debut album in 1999. Production was handled by group members Robbie Chater and Darren Seltmann, who composed the album's songs by sampling music from vinyl records and manipulating them using Yamaha Promix 01 and Akai S2000 samplers. The song "Since I Left You" was recorded by the group at Soft Light Bistro. Its final mixing process was carried out at the Sing Sing recording studio by Chater, Seltmann and Tony Espie.

A dance song of four minutes and twenty-two seconds in length, "Since I Left You" is primarily sample-based. The track features doo-wop vocal harmonies and employs various pieces of instrumentation, including organs, flutes and acoustic guitars. Its chorus, sampled from "Everyday" by The Main Attraction, features a woman singing about leaving her lover. The "Everyday" sample was the final element of "Since I Left You" to be added by Chater and Seltmann, and the former stated that its addition was a moment when they "really succeeded in writing a pop song." The original song described a woman's happiness after meeting a man, but Chater and Seltmann re-arranged various vocals to make the final sample appear to describe a break-up. Other sample sources include Rose Royce's "Daddy Rich", Tony Mottola's "Anema e core" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", The Duprees' "The Sky's the Limit", Lamont Dozier's "Take Off Your Make-Up" and Klaus Wunderlich's "Let's Do the Latin Hustle".