I don’t know ... but I think that the last album was about conflicts: We had a giant battle with our record company, they sued us for $30 million, we fought them for two years and subsequently made a film about it as well, called Artifact. But it was an album about conflict and survival. And this is an album that’s much more reflective. And it was made without the burden of a giant war on our shoulders, and it was actually really a lot of fun. It was exactly how it should be.

These songs are small pieces of a personal puzzle that equate to a cathartic hole—and that hole I feel can be generationally applied so on that small scale it's a really personal record. Lyrically, it's about me. It's about my life, and this idea that I tend to make excuses for fear of failure. I had to make excuses about why I wasn't going to get any better, why I wouldn't do anything bigger, why I was okay with being okay.

From a musical point of view, this album is very much a band album and I feel like my working relationship with the Sleeping Souls is in a really, really good place these days. Beyond that, from a lyrical perspective, it's a very personal kind of introspective record. There are various reasons why it worked out that way including events in my life. I never want to repeat myself so I didn't want to write another album about England. There's an almost detached thing about England Keep My Bones and I wanted to get something that was a little more roaring this time around.

I do hope—at this point, we’re looking at fall or winter—to have those open months. I need at least three months. The good thing is that I keep writing, whether it’s lyrics or melodies or rhythms or riffs. I do require some unbroken time to record the whole thing. That’s the thing about albums—you have to make them. I’ll release it after I finish making it, I think. I was going to try to put it out before it was recorded, but people advised me that it might not be a smart idea.

PV:Everyone keeps jabbering on about a Smiths reunion. But wouldn’t a Smiths reunion be a pretty pathetic affair?
JM: Ha! I’ll give ‘em your number! Every day I get asked that question, and you can just have a special Batphone and answer the question for me!

I used to be political and stuff, but nowadays I just think that you should try to do what you think is right and have fun and do good work. Aside from that, I don’t think I have a philosophy that I can describe or believe in. But I believe in something. But I guess just with the band and stuff, we try to do really good music and do it in a way like no one else.

I mean all of my songs for the most part, with the exception of "The Temptation Of St. Anthony," are basically a love/apology letter to my ex-girlfriend who is on the cover of the album. We're still really close but it was pretty rough for a while there and I wrote it during those rough periods. There's very little metaphor, which has always been something we used. It's still on the record but it's pretty obvious what the songs are about and I'm happy with it. I think that's the way we wrote our early songs and some of the lyrics are pretty cringeworthy but it's honest. So it is for me an...

There was a period where we said, "Why say no? Let's keep the door open." But it's a lot of work to be in Texas is the Reason. [Laughs] It's so much fucking work and I can't have that window open while I'm focusing on other things, so I want that to be clear to the people who care about these shows. I don't want people to go, "Well, I thought they'd come back." Now that the songs are recorded and The Complete Collection is out, I really feel like our work here is done.

But you know, that’s what comes with it: The job title has job requirements. Ramifications that come with the job. And we understand that where we come from, the neighborhood that I come from—that if we do join a gang or sell drugs, what comes with it. Either death, jail, murder, mayhem, robbery, kidnapping, or all of that. We understand that and we accept that. But it’s just a matter of, do you wanna better yourself and try to become something different and walk in a different, as opposed to the same light you’ve been patterned—or brainwashed—to know. So I chose to walk...

My record label was really unsure, but I said ‘Look. Either I go make this record or I go to a mental health clinic. So it’s really not your choice: This is what I’m going to do, for my own personal mental health. This is what I have to do, because music is my therapy.’