I finished 'Beautiful Creature,' and I felt somewhat unfulfilled. I felt like this other side of me needed to be released. Some of the songs I left off the album weren't intense enough to be what I wanted. They weren't hard enough.

I think the reason I've been able to keep making music is because I'm not married, I don't have kids.

I see a long lost home in his eyes. He sees a nice hotel in mine.

Songwriting is like editing. You write down all this stuff - all this bad, stupid stuff - and then you have to get rid of everything except the very best.

I tend to fall for the archetypal, talented, charismatic rock boy.

How can I shield myself from the things that I hear?

Every song brings back memories, like I remember where I wrote all these songs. 'Universal Heartbeat' was my apartment in New York City. 'My Sister' was at my apartment in Boston. I remember places and I remember what I was thinking when I wrote it.