Everything in Transit
Everything in Transit is the debut studio album by American rock band Jack's Mannequin. Amid rising tensions within Something Corporate, the band went on a break; returning to his home in Orange County, California, frontman Andrew McMahon began working on a new project with producer Jim Wirt. Tracking commenced at 4th Street Studios in California, with additional recording done at other studios. Towards the end of the sessions, McMahon signed with major label Maverick Records; tracking was presumed finished in late 2004. McMahon began playing shows with Jack's Mannequin in early 2005; the group embarked on six-week tour, which coincided with the single release of "Holiday from Real".
With the recording and inclusion of "Dark Blue", the album was pushed back to early August. McMahon began suffering from chronic fatigue and laryngitis; in the following days, he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Over the next two months, McMahon was admitted to hospital, underwent two rounds of chemotherapy, and had a bone marrow/stem-cell transplant from his sister Katie. "The Mixed Tape" was released as a single in mid-July; an animated music video was made later that month. After two delays, Everything in Transit was eventually released on August 23.
McMahon spent the next two months recovering at his parents' house before going in remission in October and played his first show since his diagnosis in December. He started promoting the album with a few late-night talk show appearances, before supporting O.A.R. on their US tour; "Dark Blue" was released as a radio single in June to coincide with the trek. They embarked on a headlining US trek in September and October, followed by a supporting slot for Panic! at the Disco on their US arena tour, which was promoted with the release of "La La Lie". Another headlining US tour followed in February and March 2007, leading to a performance at The Bamboozle festival.
Everything in Transit is a concept album centred around McMahon's return to California and the demise of a long-standing relationship. Removed from the musical style of Something Corporate, it is a pop rock and power pop record, influenced by pop albums from the 1960s and 1970s, specifically the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. Everything in Transit received a positive reception from critics, with a few praising McMahon's lyrics. It sold over 22,000 copies in its first week, charting at number 37 on the Billboard 200 as a result. As of August 2008, it had sold over 250,000 copies. Celebratory reissues were released on the album's 5th and 10th anniversaries; the latter was supported with a tour.
Background
In the early 2000s, Andrew McMahon was the frontman for pop punk act Something Corporate. He had recorded and toured with the band since high school, releasing three albums. As a result, he spent little time at home. During some downtime in December 2003, McMahon wrote "Locked Doors", a track that differed from the group's usual style. He recorded it himself in a studio, which he found an enlightening experience. McMahon tracked 17 demos at The Jungle Room, with most of their themes centered around his family and his upbringing. McMahon sent them to Something Corporate collaborator Jim Wirt, who singled out "Holiday for Real". The pair spent two days in a studio working on that and "Locked Doors". Something Corporate went on a co-headlining US tour with Yellowcard in March and April 2004 and supported the Offspring on an Australian tour in June. Unable to work together, the band members' relationships became strained. They discussed recording another album. Despite having a batch of songs already written, McMahon thought the idea sounded "terrifying". The group was also facing pressure from the music industry, and a number of things were disrupting the otherwise friendly atmosphere between band members. Concerned that a new album would feel forced, and they had reached the point of burning out, the band decided to take a break to recuperate.After returning home to Orange County, McMahon spent some time with his friends and family, and frequented local eateries. McMahon wrote material on his Something Corporate touring piano that he had moved into his bedroom. He would often wake up in the middle of the night and write songs. McMahon and Wirt began working on a project ultimately titled Jack's Mannequin, with McMahon handling the writing, and the pair playing all the instruments. McMahon toyed with the idea of calling it The Mannequins, but was tired of bands beginning with "the". He got the word "mannequin" from a random conversation, and at the same time he had finished a song entitled "Dear Jack"; he joined the two names. McMahon threw himself into the project, claiming he worked harder on it than he did with Something Corporate. He rarely slept or ate, and was typically wasted for over half a day at a time. Within a few months, he stockpiled dozens of songs, which were influenced by Southern California's landscape and atmosphere. Though he had no plan to release the songs, he intended to record them.
Production
The main tracking occurred at 4th Street Studios in Santa Monica, California, with engineer CJ Eiriksson. McMahon financed the recording sessions with over $40,000 of his own funds, and co-produced the album with Wirt. Eiriksson and Neil Couser, who served as an additional engineer and engineered "La La Lie", handled Pro Tools. McMahon felt protective of the recording environment and was cautious about how many people were in the studio. He wanted to "do and say exactly what was on mind", and only brought in people after the tracks were mostly completed. A few of McMahon's friends contributed to the recordings: Wirt, Something Corporate guitarist Bobby Anderson, session musician Patrick Warren and Mötley Crüe member Tommy Lee. During this time, McMahon did session work for Hidden in Plain View and Lee. McMahon heard through mutual business associates that Lee enjoyed North. One night Lee invited McMahon to work with him.The drum tracks were made up of samples by Eiriksson, recorded by Scott Humphrey and Chris Baseford at The Chop Shop. When McMahon realized he need an actual drummer, Lee was brought in and tracked drums in a single day. The samples were then mixed with Lee's drums; Eiriksson and Jay McMillian also played drums during the sessions. Additional recording was done at three studios with extra engineers: Rock Central Studios with engineer Josey Alcantar; NRG Studios with Eiriksson and assistant engineer Dave Colvin; and Sound City Studios with assistant engineer Peter Martinez. Terry Wilson and Brian Coffman contributed to the recordings, the former playing sitar on "Kill the Messenger", and the latter with guitar on "MFEO" and "Into the Airwaves". After tracking six songs, McMahon felt it formed an entity separate from Something Corporate and became determined to release it.
McMahon was talking to manager, expressing concern that he didn't want to release the project with major label Geffen Records, who Something Corporate was signed to. His manager got him out of his contract with Geffen; the pair later met with two record labels. He approached major label Maverick Records three quarters of the way through the recording process and signed with them. They gave him a handheld video camera to videotape the remaining sessions intending to use clips for online promotion. Initially, he simply said what he intended to do in the studio on the given day, but it evolved into a dialogue on how his day went. After finishing the initial track listing, McMahon showed the album to his label. An A&R representative suggested adding one more song; instead, he went back and reworked the track listing, adding two songs in the process: "La La Lie" and "Into the Airwaves". Apart from a brief two-week tour with Something Corporate in November 2004, recording was reportedly finished in December, until "Dark Blue" was recorded in May 2005. The recordings were then mixed by Chris Lord-Alge. An outtake from the sessions, "Cell Phone", was later recorded for The Glass Passenger.
Composition
Themes and music
Everything in Transit is a concept album that details McMahon's return to his hometown, which he left to pursue a career in music. McMahon wrote the material during a dark period of self-exploration in his life impacted by Something Corporate's hiatus and the ending of a long relationship with Kelly Hansch caused in part by his career pursuit. Throughout the album, there are references to becoming sick and being hospitalized. McMahon mentioned the lyrics are about recovering from his frequent touring with Something Corporate, which he compared to recovering from an illness of sorts. He realized the best way to get the material out of himself was to put the lyrics against an ideology of hope. Much of Something Corporate's material was written when McMahon was 16–17 years old during various make-up-and-break-ups. For Everything in Transit, he thought he found real love, and had decided to put the relationship on hold in an attempt to find himself.Musically, the album has been classed as pop rock and power pop, abandoning the pop punk style of Something Corporate. When working in a band, decisions are often made democratically as a collective. Working on the project alone allowed McMahon to write the song he could hear in his head. He tried shaping the album after some of his favorite records—the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Weezer's Weezer and Tom Petty's Wildflowers. He also listened to electronic pop acts such as the Killers, the Faint and TV on the Radio, as well as David Bowie and Madman Across the Water by Elton John. Many elements of the Beach Boys are found on the album, including the booklet featuring an autobiographical tale in the form of a storybook inspired by Pet Sounds. It reignited McMahon's love of pop music and his interest in crafting a record that was unashamedly pop. He subsequently began listening to a lot of pop albums from the 1960s and 1970s that he considered better than his own material. After partially reconnecting with Southern California, he used the landscape's sounds as a backdrop for a few of the tracks. There are audio clips throughout the album that McMahon captured during the recording sessions on his handheld camera.