Written and produced by the band, it is a six-minute electronic piano ballad that features drum and synthesizer instrumentation and electro house beats.

Band members Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg contributed their own remix to the release, using the alias Robotberget.

"Silvia" was written and produced by Miike Snow's three members, Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg and Andrew Wyatt.

[5] Columbia Records released the single on 22 January 2010, as a digital extended play (EP) containing remixes made by Emalkay, Felix da Housecat, Hugg & Pepp and Sinden.

[14][16] John Fortunato of The Aquarian Weekly likened it to works by German electronic band Kraftwerk,[3] and Martin Turenne of The Georgia Straight felt it held a "blissful groove of '90s-era piano-led house".

[18] The piece lyrically speaks of longing,[16] and Alex Young of Consequence of Sound described it as a "boy-done-wrong ode to the titular woman".

[19] "Silvia" received positive reviews from music critics; a writer for Complex considered it a "standout" on Miike Snow.

[20] Staff reviewer Rudy Klapper of Sputnikmusic deemed it the "undeniable centerpiece" of Miike Snow, "It's the kind of climactic tune that makes everything after it seem lesser.

[16] Similarly, PopMatters critic John Bergstrom also described "Silvia" as the album's centerpiece, referring it to as "stunning".

[27] A writer for Complex commented, "The vid is kind of dramatic and hard to make sense of, but what do you expect from a band like this?