"Flames" is a song by American singer

Mod Sun Derek Ryan Smith (born March 10, 1987), known professionally as Mod Sun (stylized as MOD SUN or MODSUN), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper and musician from Bloomington, Minnesota. He has released five solo studio albums, three EPs, and ...

featuring Canadian singer-songwriter

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is a key musician in popularizing pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. List of awa ...

. The song was released by Big Noise on January 8, 2021, as the third single from Mod Sun's fourth studio album '' Internet Killed the Rockstar''. The song was written by Mod Sun, Lavigne and

John Feldmann John William Feldmann (born June 29, 1967) is an American musician and record producer. He serves as the lead singer/guitarist of the punk rock band Goldfinger. Early life Feldmann grew up in Saratoga, California. He started writing songs aro ...

, and produced by the latter.

Background and release

In December 2020, Lavigne confirmed she was recording music with Mod Sun along with producers

Travis Barker Travis Landon Barker (born November 14, 1975) is an American musician, songwriter, and music producer who is the drummer for the rock band Blink-182. He has collaborated with hip hop artists, is a member of the rap rock group Transplants ...

and Machine Gun Kelly. Mod Sun also declared in December 2020 that his upcoming fourth studio album will include one collaboration with another singer. In January 2021, the featured artist was revealed to be Lavigne. "Flames" was announced on January 1, 2021 when Mod Sun and Lavigne posted the pre-save link together with the single's cover on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

and

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. "Flames" was released for digital download and

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on January 8, 2021 through Big Noise. "Flames" was Mod Sun's fastest growing single on streaming platforms, garnering over 1 million plays on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

in its third day on the platform. The singer stated this was a highlight for his career and thanked Lavigne for believing in his work. The song became a moderate hit on rock and alternative radio. On April 16, 2021, an acoustic version of the song was released, which had a music video released on April 23.

Music video

Mod Sun and Avril Lavigne confirmed that they were making a new music video for "Flames" through their social media posts and comments in response to fans. It was also confirmed through

stories and comments that the video was shot on January 13, 2021. On January 20 it was announced that the music video would be released on January 22, 2021.

Critical reception

"Flames" was met with generally positive reviews upon its release from music critics. Tamara Bay of ''Wall of Sound'' wrote that the song is "an emo pop jam which sees Avril and Mod Sun's vocals ebb and flow together like two peas in a pod". ''

Music Feeds ''Music Feeds'' is a free bi-weekly digital music and lifestyle magazine ( street press) established in 2008 and based in Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Austr ...

'' Laura English praised the song calling it "a catchy bop that mashes pop sensibilities with emo AF lyrics and vocals". Writing for Stereo Board, Laura Johnson labeled the song "a pop-punk ballad that deals heavily in fire imagery and an earworm chorus". Rachel Dowd of

Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political r ...

praised the song by saying that it "opens up with Lavigne and a haunting piano before heavy rock guitars and percussion kick in along with Mod Sun's distinct vocals. ''

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolator or Idolater may also refer to: * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), a 2005 album by Blood Stain Child * ''Idolator'', a 1986 album by Ole Evenrud * "Idolater", a ...

''s Mike Wass called the song a "power-punk anthem, which contains massive pop hooks. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' placed the song on its "Friday Five" list which lists the five best songs released in that week according to its editors.

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2021 singles 2021 songs Avril Lavigne songs Mod Sun songs Songs written by Avril Lavigne Songs written by John Feldmann Songs written by Mod Sun