Pieces of the People We Love was written over the course of 12 months after the band had finished touring their debut. Knuckling down to writing duties upon their return to New York, the group emerged in a confident stride with 30 songs in their pocket and an itch to get into the studio. They road-tested some of their new tunes in a series of low-key live shows up and down the east and west coasts. The results were suitably exciting (the NYC show was voted Gig of the Year by New York Magazine), so in Spring 2006 they took these songs into the studio with Paul Epworth (Bloc Party, Futureheads) and Ewan Pearson (mixer for Chemical Brothers, Depeche Mode and Gwen Stefani, on production duties for the first time) in Manhattan, and then with Danger Mouse in LA.