"I love a lot of Bernard Hermann’s work, but his soundtrack to Taxi Driver is really extraordinary. I actually watched the movie for the first time very recently, during the past year, and I was struck by how brilliant the music was. “The way that it changes from being something that’s so threatening and dark to being very melodic and lovely always surprises me, which I guess represents the protagonist’s mind. The idea of ugliness and beauty – and how it can shift very quickly, going back and forth – is another thing that I wanted to explore on the new record. I found this one to be very inspiring."

"I probably listen to the National more than any other band, and this record was my way in. I can’t say it’s better than the rest, especially the last few, but it’s got a special place in my heart. If I could ever get sick of listening to it, I would have found out by now. This band takes a while to get into in my opinion, at least it did for me and others I’ve known. Matt Berlinger’s baritone crooning and unorthodox rhythms took a while to open up to me but quickly became a balm to the soul. Try the song Bloodbuzz Ohio."

"This has a bit of an H.P. Lovecraft feel to it. We were stuck, because there were two albums, the other one being by his band, The United States of America. That one’s much more weird, and we like it a lot, but this one we always found harder to listen to, so for that reason we chose it. Because if it’s still hard to listen to, there must be something in it that’s playing with my expectations, whereas The United States of America is fairly funky. So, it was a struggle to choose one, but in the end we picked that one for the singing."