vocals on "Doubt Full"). In addition, members of the group's contemporaries also appear: Freddy Cricien of Madball (backing vocals on "Your Biggest Mistake" and "At Least I'm Known for Something"), James Dewees of Reggie and the Full Effect (keyboards on "Failure's Not Flattering"), Andy Jackson of Hot Rod Circuit (backing vocals on "Over the Head, Below the Knees"), Toby Morse of H2O (backing vocals on "Over the Head, Below the Knees") and Hazen Street (backing vocals on "Over the Head, Below the Knees"). Tom Lord-Alge mixed the tracks at South Beach Studios, before they were mastered by Ted Jensen. Composition and lyrics When New Found Glory started out, they would write material they enjoyed and not overthink it. For their self-titled and Sticks and Stones albums, they focused more on what their fans would like. With Catalyst, they returned to the earlier method of writing whatever they enjoyed. Pundik said the band wanted to reinvent themselves musically with Catalyst. Grushka said Gilbert wrote 95% of the music on the album, while he contributed a bridge and a few lyrics and Klein wrote the majority of the lyrics. Musically, the sound of Catalyst has been described as pop punk, showcasing influence from hardcore punk. In addition, it introduces a mini choir ("Doubt Full"), metal ("At Least I'm Known for Something") and hardcore punk-esque ("Intro") riffs, and string ("I Don't Wanna Know") and keyboard ("Failure's Not Flattering") instruments to the group's sound. Pundik said the guitars were "a lot bigger sounding", compared to those heard on Sticks and Stones. He added that the songs were predominantly riff-based. His vocals were compared to American Hi-Fi frontman Stacy Jones. Discussing the album's title, Bolooki explained: "A catalyst is something that can spark change or help bring about change without actually being changed by the reaction itself." "Intro" is a short 37-second long song, which talks about people who treat punk rock as a fashion style. Gilbert came up with the riff to "All Downhill from Here" while driving. He was on his way to practice as he randomly started singing the riff. in his head. He subsequently wrote the rest of the song on the day. He said it was about "any kind of relationship with someone goes sour and things go south from there." It drew comparison to Alkaline Trio. "This Disaster" sees Pundik singing in a higher vocal register, earning a comparison