McCracken described the new genre, "In the past, we've always kind of brought pop sensibility into heavy rock, but this is going to be all that much more tantalizing and brutal. Our songs are 10 times messier and noisier than they've ever been."
The themes of the record include "coming to grips with how much you really hate yourself" and the concept of mortality. McCracken, who had previously lived a "reckless life," recently came to terms with how easy it is to accidentally die after the tragic death of actor Heath Ledger. The song "Meant to Die" is loosely based on the death of Ledger and not being able to say "sorry," or "I never meant to die" after an accidental death.
- from Wikipedia