“Human” is a mixture of sinister metaphors involving body parts, a fuzzy Latin groove, and heavy percussion sprinkled with electronic glitches. Alison’s Edith Piaf-inspired tones are menacing, lowering the dynamics to a whisper on the verse, her words asking uncomfortable questions in an almost seductive tone.

It was released as Felt Mountain’s third single on February 26, 2001. It reached #87 in the UK Singles Chart.

In an interview with Munkio, Alison Goldfrapp commented on the song:

I was thinking “Human” is about an orgiastic idea — whether that’s sex or whatever — it’s kind of a slightly unpleasant feeling about someone and, because they are so grotesque, you ask yourself whether they are actually human or not."

It was co-written with Tim Norfolk and Bob Locke of the jazz group Startled Insects, before the formation of Goldfrapp. Will Gregory took insterest in Alison after listening to her singing on an early version of this song, and they both produced the final version together.

In 2016, the song was sampled by Kanye West on “Freestyle 4” from The Life of Pablo.