The Time Is Now (Moloko song)


"The Time Is Now" is a song by the Anglo-Irish electronica-pop group Moloko. It was released in March 2000 as the lead single from their third album, Things to Make and Do.
The song charted at number two on the UK Singles Chart in March 2000, outpeaking the band's previous single "Sing It Back", which peaked at number four. In May 2000, the song was certified Silver by the BPI for sales greater than 200,000.

Background and writing

"It's probably the closest we've come to sitting down with a guitar and writing a song," recalled Mark Brydon. "We thought we'd try and make a track with the same structure as a dance record but keep it acoustic. There was this temptation to put on a big snare or something, but every time we did that it upset the balance. Being constrained by budget, we couldn't really afford the full-on disco strings, so it's not exactly Love Unlimited Orchestra. We got this quartet in to do more of a Curtis Mayfield thing. We think of them as 'street' strings."

Critical reception

Andy Hinds of AllMusic, in a review for Things to Make and Do, said "check out the nylon-string guitar in the flamenco-flavored 'The Time Is Now,' which faintly recalls Basement Jaxx's 'Rendez-Vu' and it adds a timeless quality to the music overall".
This song was also nominated for Best British Single at the 2001 BRIT Awards but lost to Robbie Williams's "Rock DJ". The same thing occurred with its music video, which was nominated for Best British Video but also lost out to "Rock DJ".

Track listing

UK 12" Single
  1. "The Time Is Now" – 8:58
  2. "The Time Is Now" – 7:15
  3. "The Time Is Now" – 3:55
French 12" Single
  1. "The Time Is Now"
  2. "The Time Is Now"
  3. "The Time Is Now"
  4. "The Time Is Now"
UK CD 1
  1. "The Time Is Now" – 4:32
  2. "The Time Is Now" – 3:59
  3. "The Time Is Now" – 9:00
Australia/New Zealand Maxi Single
  1. "The Time Is Now" – 4:32
  2. "The Time Is Now" – 11:13
  3. "The Time Is Now" – 9:00
  4. "The Time Is Now" – 8:21
  5. "The Time Is Now" – 5:21
  6. "The Time Is Now" – 3:59

    Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

In popular culture

In 2014, the song was featured in the Enhanced Version of Grand Theft Auto V's Non-Stop-Pop radio station.
It was also featured on Sky Sports Saturday night Premier League highlights show Football First from 2004.