In a sense, this is a concept record where the concept found us after the fact. It wasn't an affected storyline or message that we heavy-handedly shoehorned into an album, but rather it became a very real reflection on the state of existing as an American. It's steeped in the hard luck stories, in fights, in love, and most importantly in the overriding desire to describe all of these things for fear that we would otherwise lose them and, in so doing, lose the most vital parts of ourselves.

We worked on the material for eighteen months, and eventually sat down for a reckoning with the dozens and dozens of songs we'd come up with. We realized that ones that made the best pop record weren't going to be the ones that made the best novel. Further, we realized that this was okay.

Initially, the album is a dichotomy. Collins' songs predominately reflect on events people experience: "Wasted Year" is told from the perspective of a Guantanamo inmate and "Watch As They Go" moves through a night in which we and our friends slowly drink ourselves into oblivion. David's songs, on the other hand, gravitate mostly towards one's reactions toward experience, focusing on things like dissolving relationships in "Son of California" or we've-gotta-get-out-of-this-place laments like "Real Love." Will Boyd, the most recent addition to the band, brings in the song that unifies the two halves with "Still Not Sick of You," an exploration of how people cope with both modern life (Collins) and how modern life makes them feel (David).
As far as the sonic textures on the record, we were extremely lucky to work with Chuck Brody as producer, particularly because of his strong background in hip hop. Initially, we were a little wary of how this might translate for a rock band, but as we went through the recording process, it was incredible to see how strongly his input was creating change in our music. A lot of contemporary rock n' roll albums eschew the hook of a song, tending instead toward this really lush sonic wash that, while pleasant and sometimes even profound, can get really bland really quickly. Chuck, on the other hand, worked very hard at keeping us on point, focused on always having the song headed towards its destination. There are musical textures and layers here, certainly, but they're never brought in at the expense of what makes the track move. As the album took shape, we became increasingly grateful for his viewpoint, as it made us step outside of our previous confines. Plus, his studio's really, really nice.

Ultimately, our goal with this record was to create something bigger and more ambitious than anything we'd done prior. We wanted it to sound out of control good, and we wanted to push ourselves as songwriters to create something that would, ideally, engage the listener in a dialogue. Rather than hurling songs at someone, we wanted to work with themes that people could bring into their own lives, turning the words and melodies into something that was just as much theirs as it was ours.