Matchbox Twenty released More Than You Think You Are on November 19, 2002. Their third studio album paired songs including “Disease,” “Unwell” and “Bright Lights” with a broader role for the musicians around singer Rob Thomas. Drummer Paul Doucette and guitarist Kyle Cook contributed to the writing, while the band pursued a recording that felt closer to playing together onstage.
The sessions took them to Bearsville Studios near Woodstock, New York, with producer Matt Serletic. Bassist Brian Yale told Deseret News in 2003 that the band had spent a nine-month break from touring writing songs before returning to the studio. He felt Mad Season had accumulated plenty of production detail; this time, they wanted something more immediate. “We wanted to capture our live feel, and I think we did,” Yale said. They recorded the basic tracks, including bass and drums, in Woodstock, then moved to the Hit Factory in New York City for vocals.
The musicians also began taking more responsibility for what happened between performances. In a 2012 interview with M Music & Musicians, Thomas traced their growing confidence as collaborators to these sessions. Serletic was also running Virgin Records and wasn’t always in the room. Thomas remembered finding bandmates recording guitars, editing in Pro Tools and working on Cook’s banjo sound without waiting for the producer. Serletic remained central to the album, Thomas stressed, but the circumstances encouraged the band to make more decisions themselves.
That shared approach was there from the opening track. Doucette explained in an interview preserved in Noise11’s archive that “Feel” began partly with music Cook had been playing at soundchecks. Doucette supplied a melody and the opening guitar figure; Thomas contributed verse lyrics, and he and Doucette worked on the chorus. Putting it first was deliberate. The band had previously placed harder songs farther into their albums, but wanted listeners to hear that side of them immediately on this one. Doucette also wrote “Could I Be You” himself, giving Thomas a complete song from another member to sing. He had begun writing between Mad Season and the new album, and Thomas connected with that particular piece. Doucette’s contribution extended beyond the drum kit: his recording credits include acoustic and electric guitars, piano and clavinet. “Soul” added another Thomas, Cook and Doucette writing collaboration.
The arrangements left room for different kinds of intensity. Looking back in a 2023 WTOP interview, Cook used “Bright Lights” to explain the approach: Thomas’s piano opening establishes a small, intimate setting before the rest of the performance gathers force. “Unwell” found its distinctive opening in Cook’s banjo. He had already told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in 2003 that the instrument took him outside his comfort zone, even as the song became increasingly associated with the album.
Both the album and “Unwell” received Grammy nominations in 2004. More Than You Think You Are competed for Best Rock Album, while “Unwell” was nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
