Partington elaborated: "We really wanted it to feel, not sad and somber really but just kind of have a broody feeling." McMahon and Partington wrote songs separately. The pair wanted to showcase the different sides of the band and also display some form of growth from their preceding album. Partington had written six songs on the album before entering the studio. While touring Europe, the US went to war in Iraq. According to Partington, the group did not "want to be playing a show when there's something so much more important going on." As a result, the band cancelled the remainder of the tour, and returned to the US. Partington recalled that he and McMahon did "a lot of writing" together, and were "really happy with the songs we had" going into the studio.