It appears as the fifth song on the band's fourth studio album, Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!, which released on October 8, 2013.

A music video for the song released in early 2014, with "Nicotine" becoming the album's fourth single on May 6, 2014, alongside a promotional EP.

at the Disco's frontman Brendon Urie began writing "Nicotine" with Amir Salem and band member Dallon Weekes.

[1] During this time, Urie was quitting smoking and Salem was going through relationship issues, so they merged the two concepts and wrote about a girl metaphorically being a cigarette.

[2] "Nicotine" personifies addiction, lyrically describing continuing to be in a relationship despite knowing the negative consequences that will follow.