Landmines (song)

"Landmines" is a song by Canadian rock band Sum 41, written by Deryck Whibley. It was released as the lead single from the band's eighth and final studio album Heaven :x: Hell on September 27, 2023.

Background
The band announced their eighth studio album, Heaven :x: Hell on March 23, 2022. The album is a double album. Heaven will return to the pop punk sound of the band's early career while Hell leans more towards a heavier metal sound. In May 2023, the band announced that Heaven :x: Hell will be their final album with the band disbanding after they complete a final headlining tour. One week before the song was released, Whibley was hospitalized for COVID-19 and pneumonia, which lead to heart failure. He was discharged from the hospital the next day. The song was released on September 27, 2023, along with a music video. It is the band's first release with Rise Records.

Commercial performance
"Landmines" debuted at number 29 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart, their first single to reach the chart since 2011's "Screaming Bloody Murder". On the week of March 9, 2024, it replaced "One More Time" by Blink-182 at the top spot on the Alternative Airplay chart, becoming their second number-one hit single on the chart, following 2001's "Fat Lip". This resulted in Sum 41 setting a record for longest time between number-ones at 22 years, five months, and three weeks.

Composition
Andrew Sacher of Alternative Press called the song a "nostalgia-inducing pop-punk single...[that] sounds straight out of the band’s classic early 2000s...era, with a few modern twists." Whibley stated, "When I wrote 'Landmines' I had no intention of writing an old school 'pop punk' song...It just came out really quickly and I knew right away that this song felt special to me."

Personnel
Sum 41
 * Deryck Whibley – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter, producer
 * Dave "Brownsound" Baksh – lead guitar, backing vocals
 * Tom Thacker – rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
 * Jason "Cone" McCaslin – bass
 * Frank Zummo – drums

Additional musicians
 * Gary Anderson – additional backing vocals
 * David Jess – additional backing vocals
 * Luke N. Bovill – additional backing vocals
 * Rory Gault-Gordon – additional backing vocals
 * Peter Bunting – additional backing vocals

Production
 * Mike Green – producer
 * Deryck Whibley – mixing, engineering
 * Kris Crummett – mastering