“It’s  naturally radiating from us,” Bathke interjects. “I think we both have that disease where we want to do it ourselves because we have this vision in mind. It’s not that we don't trust anyone else, but sometimes it is easier to just do it yourself.”

Instead of arriving at the studio with an idea in mind, as they’d done in the past, the five members bounced ideas off each other until they reached the finished product, though Bathke still relishes the chance to “play composer.” That freedom helped her gain confidence as a singer, in part because she turned to her band members for support. “I was a bit shy, and not as confident as they naturally are with music. I said, ‘I don’t know how to add my parts,’ but they helped me figure it out, and it was okay. I think it’ll be different going forward.”

“ I think the way we did this last record was more conducive to adding Breckelle [Bathke] into the band. She can try different vocal ideas on a recording vs. when we’re at practice.” Now that she’s comfortably integrated into the band, she seeks the thrill of building the plane as she flies it. “You Know What You’re Laughing At is probably a formula that we’re gonna stray away from. Because it was computer-first, just to get the ideas down, and then learning how to make it come to life on the instruments. We wanna go back to figuring it out live.”

gash brings a delicate, fallible touch to everything they do, plucking samples from Nyberg’s home videos and leaning on each other as they wade through the gauzy layers of their own creations. Bathke says, “You can hear it in the songs, that we’re all buddies.  There’s a lot of letting go of whatever sonic vision that you had. There’s a lot of sacrifice. I  think it’s a beautiful thing to have all your best friends and lovers to go through it with. I love any sort of human aspect to being in a band.”