the recording assuming they would not get the opportunity to make another album, and decided to include a variety of extra instrumentation. Adkins said while recording "Table for Glasses", the band learned "if you aren't doing a lot, it doesn't take a lot to get a big dynamic impact", citing the cello as a prime example. The band recorded two different drum sets for "Lucky Denver Mint", a first for the band. They liked the effect, and also used two sets on "Ten" and "Goodbye Sky Harbor". "Crush" was re-recorded during the sessions. Throughout the recording process, the band wrote more material, and made demos. Trombino mixed the songs at One on One South in Los Angeles, California, with assistant engineers Ron Rivera and Justin Smith, and at Music Grinder in Hollywood with assistant engineer Dean Fisher. Brian Gardner then mastered the album at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood. Composition and lyrics Clarity has been described as emo, pop-punk and punk rock, with elements of chamber pop and electronica, and has been compared with the music of Bedhead. Clarity marks the start of Adkins providing lead vocals rather than Linton. With the exception of the song "Blister", from this point, Linton only provided backing vocals on some tracks until "Action Needs an Audience" from the album Invented (2010). Adkins wrote some of the songs, including "Table for Glasses" and "Goodbye Sky Harbor", for the earlier side project. Susie Katayama assisted Adkins in writing and arranging the string parts for some of the songs. During breaks in touring in support of Static Prevails, Adkins worked at an art store, during which time he wrote "Table for Glasses". Adkins learned about shows that featured the work of local performance artists. Adkins was waiting for a friend's piece to begin when he noticed a girl clearing the area with the end of her dress. The girl walked towards a candle-lit table, and "just sat there picking out the dirt from her dress", said Adkins. The slow-tempo opens with a droning organ, followed by a shuffle beat, picked guitar notes, and concluding with a crescendo; the slowcore crawl and harmonies were influenced by the music of Low. "Lucky Denver Mint" was inspired by a night out in Las Vegas Adkins had with a friend; Adkins was too young to consume alcohol, and instead gambled, eventually spending all of his money. As a result, he