Life, a band from the group's hometown, who Pagnotta applauded for the usage of open chords in their material. Livingston keeps time in the song using the edge of his tom, resulting in a clock-like ticking sound which gave the track "a nice ambient space." It ties into one of the two lyrical themes (space), with the other about being away from home. "Back to California", which had a similar structure to "Stay Together for the Kids" by Blink-182, was written about returning home from touring solely to break up with a partner. When Pagnotta showed the track to Livingston, the pair started talking about Jimmy Eat World's use of hand percussion, which found its way into the song's intro. It featured several stacked vocal parts and call-and-response harmonies during the chorus, which Pagnotta heard when listening to Carpenters albums during his childhood. Tracks 6–12 During an off-day in the first week of pre-production, Pagnotta arrived at the studio early and began playing drums while vocalising melodies. He based this off the group Spoon, whose music arrangements revolved around the drums and vocals. He began singing what would become "Destination Anywhere"; when Livingston arrived at the studio the pair started fleshing out the remainder of the song. At the group's next practice session bassist Airin Older came up with a riff that Pagnotta said was a mix between "New Year's Day" by U2 and several Motown tracks, while DeSantis added stabs in the vein of British mod music. Upon MacKillop hearing it, he remarked it sounded like INXS, to which the band was "all shocked in horror." The vocals for the track had to be re-recorded twice over as MacKillop thought it need to come across as intimate-sounding; a moog riff was added in the bridge. "Champagne" is about Pagnotta's relationship with the group's former drummer Davis. He started writing it before Davis' departure when he noticed how different Davis was acting since he became an alcoholic. It bounces between first-and-third person views; Pagnotta referred to it as the Cars "on steroids." It was the last track finished during recording, and was mixed by Trombino, which Pagnotta felt added a denser layer to the song that they hadn't thought about. "What You Say" resulted from a in-the-moment jam session between Livingston and Pagnotta. It was compared to the Foo Fighters; the guitar riff specifically recalled the one heard in "Breed"