"Miracle Mile" is a song by American indie rock band Cold War Kids. The song was written by lead singer Nathan Willett and produced by Lars Stalfors (Matt & Kim) and Dann Gallucci (Modest Mouse). It was the sole single off their fourth album Dear Miss Lonelyhearts (2013) and was released on February 5, 2013.

"Miracle Mile"
The cover shows a white background with the band's logo on the top right corner and graffiti-like postings in the middle. The title cover used Bodoni font.
Single by Cold War Kids
from the album Dear Miss Lonelyhearts
ReleasedFebruary 5, 2013 (2013-02-05) (iTunes)[1]
Recorded2012
GenreIndie rock
Length3:00
LabelDowntown, V2
Songwriter(s)Nathan Willett
Producer(s)Lars Stalfors
Dann Gallucci
Cold War Kids singles chronology
"Minimum Day"
(2012)
"Miracle Mile"
(2013)
"A Million Eyes"
(2014)
Music video
"Miracle Mile" on YouTube

"Miracle Mile" was given positive reviews from critics who called it a highlight on Dear Miss Lonelyhearts. The song peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. A music video was made for the single and premiered in April 2013.

Critical reception

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"Miracle Mile" received a positive reception from music critics. Philip Cosores of Paste called it a "hook-heavy foot stomper."[2] AllMusic's Heather Phares praised the song for being a merger of "both the slickness of Mine Is Yours and the theatrics of Loyalty to Loyalty."[3] Kevin Perry of NME felt the piano sounded exhilarating and liked that the band "stopped trying to do indie rock by numbers and gone back to the sort of idiosyncratic weirdness that made us fall for them in the first place."[4]

Chart performance

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"Miracle Mile" debuted on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart at number 37 and peaked at number 22, their fifth top 40 hit on that chart. It was their highest-charting single to date since 2006's "Hang Me Up to Dry" until "First" (2015). It stayed on the chart for nineteen weeks, making this their second longest charting single to date, also behind "First".

Music video

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Directed by Vern Moen (who previously directed their videos for "Audience" and "Louder Than Ever"), the video was mostly shot in black-and-white and occasionally red during the middle part. The video was uploaded on the band's YouTube page on April 11, 2013. The video was made available the next day on iTunes.[5]

Live performances

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Cold War Kids performed "Miracle Mile" and "Loner Phase" on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on April 2, 2013.[6] They performed the song again on the Late Show with David Letterman on July 18, 2013.[7]

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Charts

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Chart (2013) Peak
position
US Rock Airplay (Billboard)[8] 48
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[9] 22

References

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  1. ^ "Miracle Mile – Single by Cold War Kids". iTunes (US). Apple. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
  2. ^ Cosores, Philip (April 2, 2013). "Cold War Kids: Dear Miss Lonelyhearts". Paste. Wolfgang's Vault. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  3. ^ Phares, Heather. "Dear Miss Lonelyhearts - Cold War Kids". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  4. ^ Perry, Kevin (April 2, 2013). "Cold War Kids - 'Dear Miss Lonelyhearts'". NME. IPC Media. Archived from the original on December 2, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  5. ^ "iTunes – Music Videos – Miracle Mile by Cold War Kids". iTunes (US). Apple. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  6. ^ "Episode 57". Jimmy Kimmel Live!. April 2, 2013. ABC.
  7. ^ "Cold War Kids – Miracle Mile [Live on David Letterman]". Dailymotion. July 19, 2013. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
  8. ^ "Cold War Kids Chart History (Rock Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  9. ^ "Cold War Kids Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved February 27, 2014.