remain at home, forcing them to perform acoustically. Upon returning home, they did not want to record any new material until they had been tested in a live environment. Inspired by the US tour, they made demos with guitar and piano instrumentation. The band subsequently went on a small-scale tour of the UK, as well as supporting James at the end of 2008. After borrowing money, Athlete drafted in Tom Rothrock to produce their next album, who was impressed by their acoustic demos. Recording sessions were held at Sunset Sound Recorders and The Embassy, both in Los Angeles, California, and Metropolis and The Neighbourhood, both in London. Mike Tarantino served as the main engineer throughout recording. The band and Paul Wilkinson did additional engineering and recording for "Superhuman Touch". Rothrock mixed the songs in Hollywood while the band resided in Deptford; "Superhuman Touch" was done by Michael Brauer. Don Tyler mastered the album at Precision Mastering in Hollywood, California, save for "Superhuman Touch", which was done by John Davis at Metropolis. Composition and lyrics Black Swan is a pop and stadium rock album that has been compared to the work of Coldplay. Pott said the title came from the book The Black Swan (2007) by Nassim Nicholas Taleb: "He was saying that our lives are made up of a handful of significant shocks, good or bad". Pilcher contributed additional guitars to the recordings. The band arranged the strings on "Black Swan Song" and "Awkward Goodbye", which were performed by Prabjote Osahn (violin), Stella Page (violin), Amanda Drummond (viola) and Rhian Porter (cello). The opening track to Black Swan, "Superhuman Touch", was compared to "Spiralling" (2008) by Keane. The chorus section apes the vocal melody of "You Get What You Give" (1998) by New Radicals. "The Getaway" recalls pop rock ballads from the 1980s. "Black Swan Song", which was reminiscent of "One Day Like This" (2008) by Elbow, deals with the death of Pott's grandfather: "I've never experienced death like that [...] he was really triumphant and positive about it". He wrote "Don't Hold Your Breath", which had guitar parts in vein of "Yellow" (2000) by Coldplay, after his wife had nearly suffered a miscarriage while he was away on tour in Florida. "Love Come Rescue" is an acoustic ballad in the style of the Kooks that tackles the topic of guilt and being disappointed. With "Light the Way", Pott talks