The New Normal is the first studio album by Australian rock band Cog, released on April 12, 2005 by Difrnt Music. The album was produced in Weed, California by Sylvia Massy (Tool, System of a Down, Spiderbait). The New Normal was made the album of the week on Triple J and at the J Award of 2005, the album was nominated for Australian Album of the Year. The album peaked at number 19 on the Australian Recording Industry Association album chart. Background The album name was formulated in the wake of the September 11 attacks, front man Flynn Gower explained that the name was derived from a social commentator in the United States that was describing "what people once considered ‘normal’ in terms of lifestyle. Things had changed quite drastically in a short period of time. They were calling the kind of social and political environment in which we now lived, ‘the new normal’”. In September 2004 Cog met with Sylvia Massy in Weed, California to begin recording for the album. The album was recorded between September, 2004 and October, 2004 at Radiostar Studios, a retired 1930s art deco theater that, according to the band, helped them get into a "different head space" for recording. "Real Life", "My Enemy", "Run" and "Resonate" were released as radio singles in February, March and August 2005 as well as March 2006, respectively. "Real Life" was first released as a demo in late 2003, as part of Big Day Out's 2004 compilation. It was also the first song from the album to debut on the radio. The single itself was distributed to radio stations, street team members, as well as directly to some attendees of the Big Day Out '04 launch ceremony in Sydney, Australia at Utopia Records on April 9, 2005. "My Enemy" was included in the Triple J Hottest 100: Volume 13 compilation album released in March, 2006 while "Run" was later featured in Triple J Hottest 100 Australian Albums Of All Time released in July, 2011. Lyrics and themes Lyrically the album focuses heavily to articulate themes of new world globalization in conjunction with government corruption and control. Flynn Gower described the lyrics as " recurring ideas of anger, alienation, isolation, dissension, disillusionment and disempowerment" as well as the feeling of exclusion from "the decision-making process" on both the local and national level. He went on to state that the album