Songfacts®:

• Martijn Garritsen is a Dutch DJ signed to Spinnin' Records who records under the name of Martin Garriux. He was originally inspired to make Electronic music at the age of 8, after watching Tiësto perform at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics. Garrix was little known until the summer of 2013 when this EDM instrumental was released and became a Top Ten hit in a number of European countries. The song was licensed by Spinnin' Records to Casablanca/Republic and released in the US, where it became his first entry on the Hot 100.
• Garrix had only just turned 17 when this song was first released in Holland on July 1, 2013. The track initially gained buzz after being played anonymously fueling rampant discussion and speculation on who the mysterious producer was.
• Martin Garrix is signed to Scooter Braun Projects in America where he is handled by Michael George. The SBP agent recalled to Billboard magazine the first time he came across the young producer when he was scouting EDM talent during Miami Music Week. "There was just something about the charisma and his personality that really shined through to me," George said. "When I went home, we Skyped and – I'll never forget – he came on Skype and said to me, 'Bro, bro! I've had this melody in my head, I couldn't sleep! I need to send you the song!' And he sent me the demo version of 'Animals.'"
• Braun and George had considered adding a vocal to the track but eventually shelved the idea. "It's something that radio programmers in all these different markets were apprehensive about and didn't necessarily believe could be done or would work," George said to Billboard of the track's lack of a lyric. "Initially the idea was, 'Hey let's go find a topline, that way it's more digestible to the public.' But I think, given that the original is working, a topline would be a secondary thing if it happens at all."
• The song was the third House revival track to reach #1 on the UK singles chart in 2013, following Duke Dumont's "Need U (100%)" and Storm Queen's "Look Right Through." Three other chart-toppers also featured house elements that same year - Bingo Players' "Get Up (Rattle)," Swedish House Mafia's "Don't You Worry Child" and Avicii's "Wake Me Up."
• The song was arguably the first instrumental to top the UK Singles Chart since Mr. Oizo did so with "Flat Beat" in 1999. We say arguably as the single edit does contain a couple of brief spoken phrases.
• When asked by Radio.com why he thought the song has been so successful, Garrix replied laughing: "I have no idea," before adding, "I think it's the melody. It gets stuck in your head. I've heard the track a million times, so I'm kind of tired of the melody. But I think that's one of the reasons why the track is charting so well."