JON: I think as far as the webcam is concerned it was kind of a window in for people but it was also a window out for us, to kind of, avoid the pitfalls that’s common to the studio process of just being lost in your own dark, little cave, forgetting about the fact that you’re going to be playing these songs in front of people in a few months and wanting to keep the communication going.

CONFRONT: And I suppose it also means that you’re more conscious in the studio of your public image too, and so you want to bring that good behaviour into the private time as well?

JON: You know there’s a lot of lucky times when no one was picking their nose or that type of thing…basically it was kind of Russian Roulette because every eight seconds, every ten seconds the photo was delivered to the website. We thought about what would it be like if somebody runs through the studio naked; you might not see it or you might!

CHAD: Luckily we had no streakers in the studio.

I think we've always been probably, almost to a fault, a little too outspoken about things. If anything that's what we've gotten flak for. Every record I've delivered within Switchfoot has included a song-by-song explanation of where these things have come from. For the American public, especially in faith-based communities, there's very little creativity. There are very few people that are looking at a metaphor and actually diving into it as a pool and swimming around in it and exploring. I think songs are, if nothing else, they have to be a metaphor. Because when you write a song you're not attempting to write a song, you're attempting to explode the Atomic Bomb. You're attempting to make people float and cry and explode and disappear. You don't write a song to write a song, you want to change the world. And yet every song comes out and it's just a song. And I guess that's what keeps you coming back.

If you rob the song of its metaphor and tear the fangs and the claws off it and put it in the zoo and explain it: 'That's a lion. That's what it is!' it tears the very essence of what the song is supposed to be when it's out in the wild - unexplained. I feel like the mystery that surrounds us is something that is many times lost by the modern mind. The idea that, we want to explain it. We want to put it in our back pocket. Fold it up and bring it out and show it to friends on our command. It's something that we do to our detriment with our faith as well. I don't believe in a God that I can put in my back pocket. So in the same way I don't want songs that I can just use on demand. For me music is something that goes much deeper than that.

Switchfoot front man Jon Foreman, a mentor of sorts to Thiessen, sees the new collection as a great example of Thiessen's deft touch as a writer. 'I am always struck by how clever Matt is', Foreman tells CCM. 'This record has hidden gems throughout'.

A beautiful instrumental climax represents the character's ascent to Heaen, and a stunning coda sung achingly by guest vocalist Jon Foreman wraps the whole thing up with a bang. 'When Matt asked me if I wanted to sing on a tune,' Foreman explains, 'I told him that I would be honored to be involved. I enjoy singing notes I wouldn't write that approach subjects that I don't write about--it's like a vacation, or a trip overseas. If I were to hire a voice to play the part of God, I would shoot for a voice like Johnny Cash or maybe Lou Reed. So I tried to dive into it and make even the high notes feel authentic and strong'. That he did. Foreman's falsetto evokes feelings of a gracious and gentle God ushering the weary and broken protagonist into His rest.

Foreman appreciates Thiessen's approach and sees a unique ability in him as a songwriter. 'Matt's a fighter', Foreman says. 'The inner fight is something that he sings about with honesty and conviction'.

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