Why did you choose to direct proceeds from this album to Sloan-Kettering?

Some friends of mine, Greg and Manal Vassallo, whose son Luca was diagnosed with AML leukemia, have spent a lot of time there and constantly sing its praises. The money will be donated both toward the research centers at the hospital and to the Joy fund which helps provide patients who are spending a lot of time in the pediatric center with all sorts of different activities, entertainment and help. Luca, Greg and Manal are all extremely strong, resilient, and loving people and I immediately thought of them when this whole thing was brought up. They suggested that we contact Sloan-Kettering.

"We're all really pumped about it," singer/guitarist Hamilton Leithauser tells Billboard.com. "We've written a lot of songs in the past year and really done some editing, which I think is a new move towards maturity for us. If there was stuff we didn't love, we'd just cut it all (out), so I think that's a step in the right direction."

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"We wanted to do, like, a big Roy Orbison song that ends with a big (crescendo)," he explains. "We tried a lot of different strings and horn parts and finally found a few that go together. We think it's fantastic. It's, like, power rock."