In an interview with "Rolling Stone" in May 2009, Shinoda revealed that the band was in the process of writing and recording material for the album. The album was originally slated for an early 2010 release, but Shinoda was very concerned about "the quality of the tunes" stating that "if we need to take a step back and make sure everything is top, top quality by our standards, we will." Shinoda also stated that, comparing to "Minutes to Midnight", the new album would have a larger "thread of consistency" and would be more experimental and "hopefully more cutting-edge".