By Sean Mackin

The Takedown

This was one of those tracks that just feel in place. I loved the part so much and was so attached that I didn't want to play it for the band. I saw the chorus as an opportunity to try something new and really lock the different notes with LP. Listen close and you might hear them all!

Fighting

The chorus was a melody that I just really loved. The rest of the song proved to be a little more difficult. Neal Avron (album producer) had to help me in the bridge to really find the harmony that worked well with both the guitar and vocal. I was only focusing on the harmony with the guitar. I learn so much from gum every time we record.

Shrink The World

I looked at this song from a different angle. I really wanted to pick the part that really needed the violin, also where I should put the melodies that I liked the best. The tag at the end of the chorus was one of my favorite things. Also writing with Mendez was a delight. The bridge was just sketch that I had and once he jumped in, it was more a piece of art. I had some trouble with the change in the second half of the bridge, but Ryan coached me through and the syncopation was totally worth it!

Keeper

I wanted to make sure that this arrangement was as beautiful as Ryan's melody. I worked the hardest on this track. It proved to be difficult at first because of the change in the chorus and the fact that the progression came back around in six, but I finally got in the groove and really enjoyed the final product.

Light Up The Sky

The melody in the melody is the only thing on this record that i kept from before preproduction. Ryan was playing the chorus progressive over and over in Brazil, and I was sound checking the rental violin amp, and just started playing along. It was so beautiful that he looked at me and asked ‘what are you playing!’ Then we started going over it and doing some fine tuning and what you hear in the chorus is almost exactly what we came up with that every same day in Rio de Janeiro some ten months ago.

Shadowns And Regrets

This song threw me for a loop. I didn’t really figure this out until the night before the strings were to be recorded for this song. I stayed up until 5 am scratching my head as I knew thee was something missing. Things started falling in place, which was a good thing because my original arrangement was a complete joke! The part I wrote on the mandolin became the main melody in the strings, then Mendez came up with a beautiful guitar part in the chorus b section, and finally later that day after three strings rewrites, the arrangement fell into place! Now it's one of my faves.

Five Becomes Four

This song lyrically was very powerful to me and hit a chord that made me want to perform something like I have never put on a Yellowcard record. Mendez and I had been playing these harmonized arpeggios at sound check, and my renewed bow skills inspired me to play something a bit flashier. I really hope you like it. Also, I'd like to thank Ryan for helping me with the breakdown melody. It was something he heard and turned out well.

Afraid

This song came together rather easily. I loved the pre chorus part, fell into the chorus as it is a harmony to the part Mendez is performing and the bridge just seemed like a natural place for a simple string arrangement. It's nice to have a song like this for a song-writer. I would probably go crazy if I didn't have some songs that I could breeze through.

Date Line

This was a song that the band wrote so early that we would sound check it on the road and I would never have anything to play! Then in the studio, I wrote fifteen different parts... they all felt the same but finally it just clicked! A little bit of this, and effect here and a new part in the chorus... it was nice to finally have a part in the song that I was never a part before!

Dear Bobbie

I knew Ryan loved this song! The lyrics and subject matter was so touching that i just didn't want to screw it up! After Pete had his piano part down, filling in the rest was really easy. This song is so beautiful on many different layers! i am just lucky to be part of such a breathtaking song!

You And Me And One Spotlight

This arrangement was what I focused on first. I thought it would be tough because of the octave guitar melody, but after trying a few different things, it was a lot of fun dancing in and out of the guitar. My favorite things about this song are the pre choruses and the second verse. See if you can hear the con legno. It was pretty cool... for a band geek like me!

Cut Me Mick

This song was almost cut from the and I have to take most of the credit for bringing it back! I love the melody, I love the guitar part, and just how strong and powerful the band arrangement was! We just had to have this song on the album. I also love the violin part and wanted to try something new. I was wanting the whole recording process to play this song and we took it to the end! This part was the very last thing to be recorded for the Paper Walls sessions. At 6:00 am in the morning after starting at noon the day before.. that's right... and eighteen hour last day of recording the violin part was mixed in! Man was it worth the wait!

Paper Walls

This song was so much fun. My best day in the studio was hearing the kids sing the arrangement. It was so beautiful, was something new that I has never done before and a highlight in my career for sure! The string arrangement came together easily and it was something that I had heard for quite some time. I really enjoyed as a trio and a great way to end the album!