producers. Static Prevails saw the band shift away from the pop-punk sound of their earlier work, and into post-hardcore and emo. Capitol included two songs on promotional samplers that were sent to programming directors at radio stations; the label said it was part of a development process it had for the band. The Dallas Observer said the sampler and a lack of promotion were seen as the label cutting its losses. Jimmy Eat World promoted Static Prevails with a short tour of the United States, and a cross-country tour with Sense Field in early 1997. A three-way split single was released through Crank! A Record Company that featured Jimmy Eat World, Sense Field, and Mineral, which included an early version of what would become "Crush". Sometime after this, Jimmy Eat World released a split single with Jejune that was released through Big Wheel Recreation. In early 1998, frontman Jim Adkins and guitarist Tom Linton were part of a six-person side project that would have consisted of soft rock material. When the project ended, it left behind a collection of unreleased songs on which Jimmy Eat World would later work on for their next album. Production After a week of pre-production, Jimmy Eat World began recording Clarity with Mark Trombino in May and June 1998; the band and Trombino shared the producer credit. They were aware of Trombino through his work with Boys Life and other acts the members liked. Capitol gave the band freedom to do what they wanted in the studio; this is attributed to the label having no interest in the band by this point. Recording started at Sound City in Van Nuys, California, with assistant engineer Nick Raskulinecz. The band chose this studio because they had previously gotten good drum sounds on Static Prevails; however, due to its expensive rate, the band only recorded drum tracks there. They spent ten days here before moving to Clear Lake Audio in North Hollywood, California, where they overdubbed the songs over 40 days. During the process, the band slept on the office floor of their manager Jorge Hinojosa. Adkins said the studio atmosphere was ripe for experimenting; ideas were explored if they helped the songs. He added, "I would think a song was totally finished and then one of the guys in the band or [Trombino] would bring up an idea that really closed the deal". Jimmy Eat World approached