North

North is the fourth studio album by American rock band Matchbox Twenty. It was released on August 28, 2012, in Australia and September 4, 2012, through Atlantic Records worldwide. It is the first album from the band to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 95,000 copies in its first week.<ref name="billboard9-12-2012">{{Cite web |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/475162/matchbox-twenty-gets-first-no-1-album-on-billboard-200-chart |work=Billboard.com |access-date=September 26, 2022 |title=Matchbox Twenty Gets First No. 1 Album on 'Billboard 200 Charts |last=Caulfield |first=Keith}}</ref> It is also the first album of all new material that the band has released since More Than You Think You Are in 2002, although they recorded six new songs for their 2007 compilation album Exile on Mainstream. It is also their first full-length studio album since rhythm guitarist Adam Gaynor's departure from the band in 2005, as well as their last album produced by longtime producer Matt Serletic. Background and recording In 2004, rhythm guitarist Adam Gaynor left the band. The group then went on hiatus, with the future of the band uncertain. In 2007, the remaining four group members reunited to do a compilation album, and ended up recording seven new songs over the course of one session. For the first time, every member of the group worked on songwriting. After the compilation album was released, the group parted ways again on another hiatus, the group's future still uncertain. Many of Rob Thomas's confidantes urged him to leave the band and focus on his burgeoning solo career, but Thomas did not want to give up on the band and started writing songs intended for the group's next album. Finally, on September 4, 2010, while on VH1's Top 20 Music Video Countdown, Thomas stated that Matchbox Twenty was planning to start working on their next studio album in mid-September of that year. Due to the band members living in different locations, their first recording sessions took place in New York City, Los Angeles, and Nashville where Rob Thomas, Paul Doucette, and Kyle Cook were living, respectively. As a result of the different recording environments, the group amassed a large amount of new material of various styles which could have become multiple albums. The group had about 60 songs to choose from when they all met up in Nashville and shared a house over a three-month period during the summer of 2011.