Recording Futures, Jimmy Eat World's fifth studio album, nearly fell apart before it began. The band had already worked with producer Mark Trombino, who had shaped their previous albums Static Prevails, Clarity, and Bleed American, but those sessions went nowhere and Trombino left the project. The album they had planned was suddenly in limbo. Jimmy Eat World released Futures on October 19, 2004.
Regrouping and choosing Gil Norton
Instead of rushing into another studio, Jimmy Eat World stepped back. They played a few shows and regrouped, writing new songs like "Work," "Pain," "Polaris," and "23." When they were ready to try again, they chose Gil Norton as producer because they admired the albums he had made for Pixies, the Distillers, and Dashboard Confessional. Norton spent two days in the band's studio listening to demos, and then a month of pre-production began before recording started.
The sessions that followed were intense. The band had about 30 tracks ready, and they recorded up to nine or ten versions of each one. Drums and basic tracks were finished in three weeks, with drummer Zach Lind noting that Norton pushed him to complicate his parts. Most of the album was recorded at Harvey Moltz's home studio in Tucson, Arizona, where guitars and vocals were laid down. The band was moving away from the pop sound of Bleed American and developing the moodier atmosphere of Clarity, with more guitar solos and intricate lines. The band also recorded up to nine or ten versions of each track, a process that let them explore different arrangements before settling on the final takes. Additional vocals were later captured at Tempe Studio in Tempe, Arizona.
Old songs and last-minute additions
Some material on Futures dated back to the Bleed American era, while other songs were only two weeks old when the band entered the studio. "Pain," the album's lead single, was the last song written for the record, coming together right before recording began. The opening track "Futures" drew comparisons to Foo Fighters and Pixies, setting a darker tone. Critics described the album as alternative rock, arena rock, emo, pop-punk, pop rock, and power pop, but the band saw it as a continuation of Clarity.
The album's cover art came from a photograph by Christopher Wray-Mccann taken at the Burning Man festival. It showed a phone booth "in the middle of nowhere" with a sign that read "Talk to God." The songs dealt with despair, politics, drug abuse, and self-loathing. The title itself was open to interpretation: pessimism, optimism, hope, and greed all at once, according to frontman Jim Adkins.
One of the most striking moments in the studio came during the string sessions for "Drugs or Me." With only 30 minutes left, arranger Jake Davies turned a synthesizer part for "23" into string notation, and the musicians recorded it in the remaining time. That quick decision gave the closing track its sweeping, Cure-like feel, reminiscent of the Cure's 1989 album Disintegration. Strings also appeared on "Drugs or Me," a ballad about a friend choosing between Adkins and drugs. Some songs drew comparisons to Jets to Brazil and Maritime, while certain guitar lines reminded listeners of Hüsker Dü and Fugazi. The power ballad "Night Drive" told the story of an alcoholic from Adkins's own life.
Futures was released on October 19, 2004, on Interscope Records. It debuted at number 6 on the Billboard 200, selling 98,000 copies in its first week. The album went on to sell more than 615,000 copies and earned a gold certification from the RIAA. Publications like Blender, Rolling Stone, and Spin included it in their year-end best lists. The album had survived a false start and become one of the band's most acclaimed works.