Harris explains, “Technology, love and death are the three obsessions of the record. Our privacy used to be so important to us and now everything has changed - we freely off¬er once private information about relationships and reveal everything about our day-to-day lives. We’re trying to preserve our life digitally so when we’re gone people won’t forget us. We’re using technology to become immortal. You can even set up Facebook and Twitter accounts to continue updating after you die! We Disappear is about how humans fight the inevitable.
”Harris’s heartfelt lyrics – which draw heavily from his own recent experiences in contrast to his earlier, mostly fictitious tales – are both complimented and contrasted by the music. The galloping anthem “Hey You” depicts a paranoid fantasy of fleeing from the Grim Reaper as he calls after you; the poppy, sing-along sadness of “My Heart Went Cold” plays on the double metaphor of the loss of love/life; and the surprisingly uplifting, soaring “Thinking Of You” is both a straight-forward love song and relationship eulogy. We Disappear is a walk through modern life and love, and despite its dark themes, The Thermals here deliver one of their most spirited, anthemic, and rousing releases to date.