Backed by low vocalizations and upbeat percussion that assist its ancient callback, “Icarus” is a reference to the Greek myth of Icarus, about a young boy who tried to escape with his father, Daedalus, from a labyrinth on the island of Crete. To escape, Daedalus constructed wings from wax and the fallen feathers of birds flying above the labyrinth. However, as the chorus and mantra go, Icarus ascended too close to the sun despite his father’s warnings, and the wax of his wings melted and caused his fatal fall. Modernizing this tale, Dan Smith compares in this song a young alcoholic’s unhealthy choices to those of Icarus.

“Icarus” was an early project from Smith, as he describes its production process to Earmilk:

I recorded both of those songs in my bedroom on some pretty basic software, and then worked on them with a producer friend of mine to make them sound more proper. We added more live instruments and messed around with different sounds. It was good trying different things out and experimenting a bit, especially as I’ve always wanted to try and be as broad as possible with the sound of this band.