all these different styles with other musicians led me to think about things differently when I was working by myself. I was able to tap into things I do live, dabbling with some of that late 1960s, early 1970s R&B stuff; I was able to record all the styles of music that I like and put them on one album. It was great to take my leash off and experiment. Although it doesn't stray too far from what I've done, I think it's the first album I've made that has caught my true sound." In an interview with Amanda Hensel from PopCrush, DeGraw explained the recording sessions with Tedder: That day we wrote the song 'Sweeter,' which became the title track to the record. We were really excited about it, we felt it has something very gritty about it, but at the same time very soulful. There’s an element of the Black Keys to it, there’s an element of Sly and the Family Stone to it and it still had that anesthetic hook, which we were stoked about. [...] "The first day, we were just sitting around the piano, and he was like, ‘Hey man, what do you think of this little piano riff?’ You know? [mimics the intro to 'Not Over You'] I was like, ‘Oh, it sucks.’ I’m kidding. I was like, ‘Wow, man! That’s great, it’s got a great hook. It’s already catchy. I don’t know what it is but I want to keep listening to figure it out. We were excited about, and we thought right away that it sounded like a first single. It brings new elements to the table and at the same time is reminiscent of the first record, the ‘Chariot’ record. There’s sort of a discovery period element to that song that really felt, you know, like you’re finding your way with music. That’s a special type of feeling to have when you’re turning a song, to make it a song that doesn’t sound like you planned on writing it, a song that sort of sounds like an accident. That’s what I really like about it. Songs The lead single "Not Over You", is the result of his collaboration with Ryan Tedder. "I really felt strongly that it was a nice blend of what both of us kind of do musically," DeGraw said. Tedder also contributed to the title track, "Sweeter", which