Produced by James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy of the DFA, the song was designed to market the band through dance music distributors.

The song received acclaim from music critics and was rated 16th and 6th respectively on Pitchfork[1] and NME's[2] tracks of the decade lists.

The song was used in the soundtrack for the video game NBA 2K15, which was curated by famed music producer Pharrell Williams.

[5] Murphy and Goldworthy took a long time to persuade the band to work together because of a concern that making a dance song would alienate their fans.

[6] While mastering "House of Jealous Lovers", Murphy used techno music as a benchmark for the track's bass frequencies.

[6] The Rapture originally released the song in 2002 as a limited 12" vinyl single, a format preferred by club DJs.

[14][15] It features footage of the band, animated newspaper headlines, scrapbook paraphernalia, and scenes of military conflicts.

[23] The track opens and closes with long instrumental sections[7] and features lyrics largely consisting of the song's title being repeated.

[26] Stylus Magazine described the track as all four band members "playing their instruments as if they were leads" and continued that "nobody's been able to pull this off so well since Joy Division".

[7][40] Justin Timberlake and Timbaland have cited "House of Jealous Lovers" as an influence on their 2006 single "SexyBack".