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Everyone has a different way to relax after a hard day of work, and for Pat Sansone and John Stirratt from WILCO, the best way to clear their heads after playing to thousands of people for weeks on end was to find time to craft Fifth, the latest immaculately rendered pop opus from their long-running duo The Autumn Defense. Recorded on the fly between Wilco tours, multi-instrumentalists andm producers Sansone and Stirratt recruited members of their touring band for the first time in the making of an Autumn Defense record. Confident grooves underly the duo's masses of harmonies and carefully layered guitar chimes for what the pair consider one of their most varied efforts to date. From their native Chicago, the pair talked about finding time to make the album, balancing production and songwriting, and working with their live band in the studio.

Fifth is the first album that utilizes The Autumn Defense's core live band. "I think there is a core sound that connects all the tracks," Sansone said. "Maybe I just say that because I was there and I know how it was made, but my instinct is that it sounds like a particular group of people playing together."