Bad Mode

Two physical versions of Bad Mode were released: a standard audio CD, and a limited edition CD/DVD/Blu-ray bundle that includes the regular audio CD, five music videos ("Time", "One Last Kiss", "Pink Blood", "Kimi ni Muchū" and "Bad Mode"), and the full recorded concert Hikaru Utada Live Sessions from Air Studios. The concert was recorded at London's Air Studios, with bassist Jodi Milliner as the bandmaster. Sound engineer Steve Fitzmaurice worked in sound recording and mixing, and David Barnard in the video direction. Hikaru Utada's son, who was six years old at the time of the album's release, participated in the album, having violin credits in "Bad Mode" and vocal credits in "Not in the Mood" under the name The Artist's Son. He also appears on the album cover.

In contrast to their past albums, Bad Mode revolves around Utada's relationship with themself. They state that most of the songs were written during the COVID-19 pandemic and containing reflections on being a mother, surviving through difficult times, and working to improve their own state of being and relationships with other people. In writing the songs, Utada drew inspiration from the show RuPaul's Drag Race, explaining that its message "if you can’t love yourself, how are you going to love somebody else?" was meaningful to them. They also explained that they learned a great deal from using live instrumentation on their previous albums Fantôme (2016) and Hatsukoi (2018), and expressed a desire to create "something sonically very weird again", as with their past album Exodus (2004).

Despite having no tour to promote the album, Utada performed for the first time in the famous Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 17, 2022, being a part of the 88rising label block, singing some old hits and "Face My Fears" from Bad Mode, and a new song called "T", released after the concert ended for streaming, in 88rising's EP Head in the Clouds Forever. In response to fan requests, the concert Hikaru Utada Live Sessions from Air Studios was released on June 9, 2022, for streaming on Netflix as Utada's first digital live album.

In September 2022, Utada performed "Somewhere Near Marseilles" live at the Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise zoo. An accompanying video of the performance was released exclusively on Spotify as part of their five-year anniversary celebration of the service launching in Japan.

All tracks are written by Hikaru Utada except where noted.

Musicians

• Hikaru Utada, production (1-13), writing (all tracks), vocals (all tracks), keyboards, programming (1-5, 7, 8, 10, 12); piano (1), additional drum programming (9, 13), additional keyboards and programming (11), shaker (10), Korean WaveDrum (10), vocals recording (1-3, 6-8, 10, 12)
• Nariaki Obukuro, production, keyboards (5, 7, 8, 11, 12); programming (5, 7, 8, 11, 12), vocals recording (11)
• Sam Shepherd, production, keyboards, programming (1, 6, 10); Rhodes piano (1), piano (6)
• A. G. Cook, production (2, 3, 14), keyboards (3), programming (2, 3), remix (14)
• Skrillex, production, programming (9, 13); writing (9, 13, 14), mixing (9, 13)
• Poo Bear, production (9, 13), writing (9, 13, 14)
• Jodi Milliner, writing (1), bass (1, 4, 6, 11, 13), synth bass (2, 3, 9), Moog bass & Juno pad (5)
• Ben Parker, guitar (1, 6, 7), acoustic guitar (11)
• Reuben James, Wurlitzer piano (4), acoustic piano (9, 13), piano (11)
• Will Fry, percussion (1, 7, 10)
• Leo Taylor, drums (1)
• Ash Soan, percussion (6)
• Freddie Gavita, trumpet (1)
• Soweto Kinch, saxophone
• Chris Dave, percussion (9, 13)
• Yuta Bandoh, string arrangement, conducting (11)
• Ensemble FOVE, strings (11)
• Darren Heelis, additional drum programming (5)
• Tom Norris, additional drum programming (9, 13), mixing (9, 13)
• Nobuaki Tanaka, additional programming (11)
• The Artist's Son, violin (1), vocals (6)

Technical

• Steve Fitzmaurice, recording (1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11), mixing (1-8, 10-12), additional instrumental recording (9)
• Masahito Komori, vocals recording (4, 5, 9), strings recording (11), vocal tracks editing (4)
• Yuya Saito, vocal tracks editing (1-8, 10-12)
• Darren Heelis, additional recording (5), vocal recording assistance, additional engineering (7)
• Marek Deml, recording, additional vocals recording (4)
• Matt Jones, additional engineering assistance (7)
• Randy Merrill, mastering