ɔnðə fˈɜːst ɹᵻkˈoːɹdɪŋ sˈɛʃənz ʌvðɪ ˈælbəm, smˈɪθ stˈeɪɾᵻd ðˌɐɾɪt hɐdbɪn "ɐ lˈɔŋ, hˈɑːɹd kˈʌpəl ʌv jˈɪɹz ænd ɪt ɡɑːt pɹˈɪɾi dˈɑːɹk bɪkˈʌz wɛnˌɛvɚ wiː tɹˈaɪd kɹiːˈeɪɾɪŋ nˈuː sˈɔŋz ɪt wˈʌzn̩t ɡˈʊd ɪnˈʌf.
On the first recording sessions of the album, Smith stated that it had been "a long, hard couple of years and it got pretty dark because whenever we tried creating new songs it wasn’t good enough.