the record — me having lost two friends, tension within the band and tension with our producer — was mostly positive because it all made the songs come together like magic". One of McCracken's lost friends was his ex-girlfriend Kate, who was pregnant with his child. Prior to her death of a drug overdose, the pair had split up but "decided to keep the baby and try to stay friends and work it out". McCracken said her death "had a huge impact on the way the record turned out". Feldmann and McCracken wrote string arrangements for the album. Sean Ingram of Coalesce contributed additional vocals to "Sound Effects and Overdramatics". Additional programming was done by Danny Lohner, Josh Eustis and Steineckert on "Take It Away". Digital editing was done by Anthony Catalano. Feldmann mixed the recordings, which were then mastered by Joe Gastwirt at Ocean View Digital Mastering. Composition Prior to recording, McCracken claimed there would be "a lot more piano-based songs than guitar-riff rock songs" on the album. He added that they "definitely want to keep it eclectic and mix it all up", incorporating each members different taste in music. He said the album "definitely still [sounds like] the Used" and that the group "went [into] a lot of different places that I never thought we would go for sure". He added that there was "a lot [of] brighter tones and ... dance-y rhythms". Similar to their debut, he said "a lot of the songs are personal but ... written in a way that you're not gonna necessarily know what I'm talking about, but you'll definitely be able to get involved and make it your own". Overall, he said it was "all about loss and love and tragedy and just regular everyday things we all go through". The album's sound has been described as emo, punk rock and alternative rock. "I Caught Fire" is about "looking closely at a relationship that you kind of cherish", according to McCracken.<ref name=MTVstomp>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1507015/used-frontman-warms-up-for-tour-by-playing-with-punk-rock-stomp/|title=Used Frontman Warms Up For Tour By Playing With 'Punk-Rock 'STOMP|work=MTV|publisher=Viacom|author=Moss, Corey|date=August 5, 2005|access-date=November 8, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108205747/http://www.mtv.com/news/1507015/used-frontman-warms-up-for-tour-by-playing-with-punk-rock-stomp/|archive-date=November 8, 2017}}</ref> McCracken said "All That I've Got" is about "moments in time. The more I've thought about living, I realize that our lives are made up of seconds and moments and memories". McCraken wrote "Hard to Say" about his ex-girlfriend Kate two years prior. Following her death, the group "decided for sure" about