Songfacts®:

• Phoenix recorded this slice of synth sadness in memory of Philippe Zdar, the French producer, DJ and Cassius member who died in 2019. Zdar produced three of Phoenix' albums.
• "Identical" was the first song Phoenix worked on for House Of Memories. They recorded this love letter to Zdar three days after their dear friend's funeral. His influence remained with the French band for the rest of the album.
  
  "We got back into the studio and instead of talking to each other, we made music," vocalist Thomas Mars told Apple Music. "He was just so instrumental and so charismatic that every song we would think with his language. We still do."
• Phoenix first shared "Identical" on August 19, 2020. It appeared later in the year in the 2020 Apple TV+ film On the Rocks, directed by Thomas Mars' wife Sofia Coppola.
• Sofia's brother Roman Coppola directed the song's music video, which is dedicated to Philippe Zdar. Roman also worked on the visuals for the Phoenix songs "Funky Squaredance," "Everything Is Everything," and "Long Distance Call."
• "Identical" topped Billboard's Adult Alternative Songs chart. It was the French band's first #1 on a Billboard chart since "1901" led Alternative Airplay for two weeks in February 2010.
• Phoenix close House of Memories with "Identical." The band felt the track was the best way to end the album because Zdar was the chief thing that was missing. "The song has the light at the end of the tunnel, which fits the pandemic," Mars told Billboard. "That's the strong identity of the album. We're trying not to be in denial of what happened or to wash it away. It's a reminder that every album is a Polaroid of its time."