The Peace and the Panic

The theme behind the album is about how the band has grown in the two years following Life's Not out to Get You. When the band were writing the latter album, they were going through what Barlow calls "a period of uninterrupted happiness".[18] After touring that album, Barlow said that he re-evaluated "what life is about and questioned whether just having a positive outlook is enough".[18] Barlow said the album has a lot to offer "people who think they don't like [Neck Deep]".[5] Mentioning "Don't Wait" and "Parachute", Barlow said they "left ourselves some open doors that we can explore [in the future]".[5] With the album, Barlow said it was "time to get a bit more real" with their fans.[5] He added that there was "things in life that you can't avoid – like sadness, failure, anxiety and death – but it's coming to that realisation that's changed me personally, and us as a band".[5]

Instead of solely writing 10–14 songs, the band were constantly writing for their third album. Barlow reasoned that "you might always find something better, and you might have an idea out of nothing".[14] Barlow viewed the album as more of a collaborative effort with every member of the band writing material. He was hoping this would "produce some different results, but in the best possible way".[14] Barlow's brother Sebastian, who had co-wrote the majority of the tracks on Life's Not out to Get You,[20] was "really involved this time" contributing a lot of ideas.[12] Barlow mentioned that he wrote two songs on guitar, which was "quite new for me".[14] The majority of the lyrics on the album were written by Barlow. In addition, Barlow and Thorpe-Evans co-wrote lyrics to "Wish You Were Here".[14]

"Motion Sickness" and "Parachute" were credited to Neck Deep, Green and Sebastian Barlow. "Happy Judgement Day", "The Grand Delusion", "19 Seventy Sumthin'" and "Beautiful Madness" were credited to Neck Deep and Green. "In Bloom", "Heavy Lies" and "Where Do We Go When We Go" were credited to Neck Deep and Barlow. "Don't Wait", "Critical Mistake", "Wish You Were Here" and "Worth It" were credited to Neck Deep. Sam Carter of Architects provides guest vocals on "Don't Wait". The intro vocals on "Where Do We Go When We Go" were performed by Ella, Evie, Finlay and Darcy Jones. Laura Whiteside provides the intro to "Critical Mistake".[17]

"Motion Sickness" originally existed as "a demo idea we’d had sitting around for ages", according to Ben Barlow.[13] His brother "had the idea of having the super-punchy, stabby chorus".[13] He said the track "bridges the vibe and lyrical message" of Life's Not out to Get You to The Peace and the Panic and is the track most reminiscent of their previous material.[16] He added that, like the majority of the album, the song features the theme of "duality; the verses are about confusion and struggle, but the choruses are about not giving up, not letting hard times get the best of you."[16] "Happy Judgement Day" came out from a riff that Green played the band in the studio. As soon as the group heard it, they exclaimed "That’s sick – let’s instantly make that into a song".[13] The song talks about the current state of society and politics. Barlow said he wrote the track because he wanted to write "something that was ... important, that gets people to care about the right things, and maybe look at themselves more critically".[21]

"The Grand Delusion" was one of the last tracks written for the album. It was the result of a riff that Green had, which the band "Neck Deep-ified it", according to Barlow.[13] Discussing the track, Barlow said "There have been times where I've wished I didn't have this pressure on me, and that I was a normal person".[5] "Parachute" started out as a demo under the name "Britpop". Barlow said the group wanted the track "to have a massive festival feel" to it.[13] "In Bloom" was the first track written for the album, written around six months following the release of Life's Not out to Get You.[13] Barlow said the song "kickstarted the whole creative process".[22] It started out as an acoustic song, before eventually becoming a full-band track. Barlow said it "set the bar and tone" for the remainder of the album.[22] He added that it was "pretty down-tempo for us, yet it builds and climaxes in one of my favourite arrangements we’ve ever created".[22] Barlow considers it "unique" as it contains an instrumental middle 8 section, something the group had not done before.[13] He explained that they intentionally left it as an instrumental so that people could "dance and feel the song."[13]

"Don't Wait", which was written by drummer Dani Washington, was viewed by Barlow a "more of a political song" than "Happy Judgement Day".[13] The group initially turned down the idea of having guest musicians, "but later we were sat in the studio and I had the brainwave of having Sam Carter. He really put his stamp on it."[13] The majority of lyrics on "Critical Mistake" were written by bassist Fil Thorpe-Evans. Barlow originally sent him an acoustic version of the track with a "driving chorus that we all liked".[13] His brother "being the wizard that he is" turned it into a full-band track with a Weezer feel to it, something that "we definitely wanted to touch upon".[13] With assistance from Barlow, Thorpe-Evans wrote "Wish You Were Here" about a friend who had died following a car crash. Thorpe-Evans said he "really struggled dealing with those things ... even talking about it with family is really hard".[10] He did, however, find it easier to write about it in a song "because you can say what you want to say properly and decide what matters most".[10] Thorpe-Evans wrote the music, as well as the verses, while Barlow wrote the chorus.[13]

While working on "Heavy Lies" in the studio, Sebastian Barlow went out to get coffee. By the time he returned, Ben Barlow and Bowden wrote a chorus for the track. Barlow said they the group had a "tendency to be very wordy, so it was satisfying to have a chorus that was simple and effective".[13] "19 Seventy Sumthin'", which was written on the group's tour with A Day to Remember, details the story from how Barlow's parents got together until his father's death. Barlow, who was "having a moment", picked up a guitar and "As soon as I sang the first couple of lyrics, I knew it was going to be something special".[21] Barlow said writing it felt like "the best therapy. That was the song I felt I had to write and it was going to come out of me at some point. I wanted to make sure I got it absolutely right."[10] "Where Do We Go When We Go" was written in Sebastian Barlow's room. He was trying to come up with "ways to make a chorus more interesting", according to Ben Barlow.[13] Usually, the chorus is "this big, bouncy ‘moment’", however, Sebastian "wanted to make the verses super-drive-y, and the chorus take a step back" according to Ben.[13] Barlow said it "summarizes our mood well. Very directly, the message is: “Fuck all this shit, fuck all the noise, let’s just make something of ourselves before our time is up.”"[18]