If you’re expecting ESP guitars, then this album is not for you. On April 11 2017, Mike Shinoda made this firm statement. And it reflects in the contents of the band’s seventh offering, released May 19th, 2017. Having made somewhat of a U-turn in 2014 with their previous record, The Hunting Party, the band has yet again decided to change course violently. Opting for a more pop approach, LP have crafted a 10 track record (incidentally, the lowest track count on any of the band’s full length studio albums) and have put songwriting at the forefront of this project. The band members told Zach Sang, the songs on this record were created with the lyrics arriving first and the music forming around the words which is the reverse order for Linkin Park. Having had more or less the same line up since day one and being thoroughly familiar with each other, the group decided to collaborate with songwriters from outside the group for the first time as is evident from their lead single – the somewhat ironically titled, Heavy, which features writing contributions from Justin Tranter & Julia Michaels. The album shares its name with the penultimate track which the band wrote after their friend Amy Zaret passed away. Mike explained the origin of the song and the album title in the same interview with Zach Sang: In another interview with Kerrang! magazine, Mike explained the personal connection with the cover art. The children seen in the cover are those of a friend of the band and represent what the band members feel when their respective families get together. The photo was shot at Venice Beach by Frank Maddocks who has previously contributed to artworks for Deftones and Green Day’s Revolution Radio and Linkin Park’s own A Thousand Suns. On the release day of the album, the band released this statement via their email newsletter: