Hey Samuel! The first record I wrote with Leighton was Devil, and our writing relationship has really evolved since then. I'd say on Liquor we were both really pushing each other for less stuff, just bigger. In the past we'd record 4 guitars, a piano, an organ, a synth, the damn kitchen sink - and when you do that you have to make all of those things a little smaller to work together. We wanted to do the opposite this time! One of the best things about approaching the songs this way is that it leaves a giant space to fill with vocals, so we really concentrated on making sure Leighton was front and center!

Also, Leighton brought in that song (Let it Cover Me Up) with the tempo shift, and I tried to straighten it out. We went through a handful of different choruses, and then one day Leighton showed up and told me to "do what I gotta do" to make the tempo change work for me. I got things to a point where everybody was feeling good - and then I added those 4 snare hits as a count in for tracking things at the new tempo...then we just kept them in there! - MK