Kamikaze (Walk the Moon song)

On November 7, 2017, "Kamikaze" was released as the fourth advance track and third promotional single from Walk the Moon's third studio album, What If Nothing.[1] Following the release of its music video, the song was sent to US alternative radio stations a day later on April 17, 2020, by RCA Records as the album's second single.[2] "Kamikaze" was written by the members of Walk the Moon along with Ben Berger, Ryan McMahon and Ryan Rabin, who collectively go by the name Captain Cuts. The members of Captain Cuts also produced the song with Mike Elizondo. Mixing was handled by Neal Avron with assistance from Scott Skrzynski.[3]

"Kamikaze" runs for three minutes and seventeen seconds and has been described as a hip-hop flavored,[4] pop-friendly alternative rock track that incorporates elements of EDM.[5][6] It has a minor-key melody with a ⁴
₄ time signature and a tempo of 78 beats per minute.[5][7] The song features a heavily beat-driven chorus and multi-layered, synth-laden production that contains some sharp electric guitar riffs.[5][8]

In an interview with Billboard leading up to the release of What If Nothing, lead singer Nicholas Petricca revealed that the song has two sides for him, one that's about "being in love with someone and having to leave them behind," while the other is having "full ownership of self" and "being all-in". He mentioned how "that belief in yourself and that belief in something greater than yourself as well is un-fuck-with-able".[9] Petricca later stated in an Instagram post about the music video that "the Kamikaze is a peaceful warrior of love who is willing to sacrifice the status quo" and "love despite all odds".[10]

Time's Raisa Bruner called "Kamikaze" an "urgent and immediately catchy song", praising its production and commending Petricca's vocals of being "anthem-worthy".[5] Allan Raible of ABC News commented in his review of What If Nothing that the song "has a lasting bounce to its gate".[11] Stereogum's Chris DeVille was more negative towards the song, writing how the track "unfortunately toys with EDM low end á la Imagine Dragons or Fall Out Boy".[6]

In the United States, "Kamikaze" peaked at number six on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart on the week ending September 28, 2018, making it the band's second consecutive top-ten hit on the chart from What If Nothing after their previous release "One Foot" and fifth overall.[12] It concurrently reached its peak of number 19 on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart.[13] The song ranked at number 16 on the 2018 year-end Alternative Songs chart.[14] Elsewhere, the song reached number 48 on the Billboard Canada Rock airplay chart.[15]

The music video for "Kamikaze" was directed by Tobias Nathan and was uploaded to Walk the Moon's official YouTube channel on April 16, 2018.[16] The video features a modern dance performance choreographed by Amy Gardner.[10] Two minimally-dressed contemporary dancers played by Derek Tabda and Nicola Collie intimately sway together in a stark white room before being joined by more dancers. The video ends with a closeup of the female dancer being left breathless. Shots of the band performing the song in ankle-deep water are shown intermittently throughout the video.[17][10]

On December 11, 2017, Walk the Moon performed "Kamikaze" along with "One Foot" on Jimmy Kimmel Live! for Kimmel's Mercedes-Benz concert series. In the performance, Petricca had his mullet bleached blond and wore a knee-length cardigan with eyes printed all over. Petricca also had white face paint streaming out from the corner of his eyes, which had been a staple of the group's aesthetic.[18] Walk the Moon later performed the song on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.[19] The song was included on the set list of the band's 2017−18 Press Restart Tour.[20]

Credits adapted from Tidal and the liner notes of What If Nothing.[3][21]