Punk music is liberating for amateurs but prohibitive one for bands interested in growth. Fans of the genre are often quick to deride any punk band that dares to outgrow the stripped-back aesthetic of homemade punk rock. Of course, that attitude has never stopped the best punk bands from expanding their sound beyond such narrow confines.

“There is nothing I care about less than that,” says Kenneth William, guitarist of Canadian punk band White Lung.

A decade after their humble formation in 2006, White Lung is preparing for the release of their fourth LP Paradise on May 6, an ambitious sonic leap forward for the band that’s almost guaranteed to piss off a few punk purists. Everyone else will probably love Paradise as it is—a collection of scorching melodies and wry storytelling awash in wall-of-sound guitars that doesn’t sound quite like anything else out there.

We caught up with William on the eve of White Lung’s album release to ask him about the band’s growth and the deliberate choices he and his fellow bandmates made to make Paradise so unique. Here are 10 things you should know about White Lung.

They’re From Vancouver

British Columbia isn’t exactly known for its punk scene, but William gives White Lung’s hometown credit for helping them grow as a band—even if it seemed inconvenient at the time.

“It’s really far from most of the big North American cities, so we had to go on really long tours to be able to play anywhere,” he explains.

Embarking on those ambitious tours and playing such far-flung shows in the band’s early days, William says, made them all better musicians.

They Wrote Songs Together, But Separately This Time Around

This record was different from White Lung’s first three from the beginning, even before the band stepped into the studio. William had been brainstorming guitar parts for six months beforehand, recording clips of each on his phone to rearrange into complete songs. Mish only wrote the lyrics for each once they started recording.

“I actually think it turned out better because on some of the older albums, vocal melodies and guitar parts are more intertwined, which is what happens when you write songs start to finish with four people in a room,” William said of this process in an interview on the band’s website. “This time they’re completely separate from each other.”

They Recorded ‘Paradise’ in Los Angeles

White Lung was unable to return to their drizzly hometown for the recording process, since singer Mish Barber-Way was in the midst of a green card application at the time and couldn’t leave the States. When it came time to record the songs in October 2015, the band settled in Los Angeles for the chance to work with one of their favorite producers.

Producer Lars Stalfors Recorded Their Latest Album

Lars Stalfors, known for his work with bands like HEALTH, Antwon and Cold War Kids, turned out to be the perfect producer to help White Lung advance their songwriting toward the new territory they sought for Paradise.

“He had good taste in effects pedals and helped us branch out our songwriting in new directions,” William says.

They Used Way More Guitar Pedals This Time Around

In fact, guitar pedals turned out to be the secret ingredient to finding new sounds within White Lung’s tight instrumental framework.

“I used more guitar pedals than I’ve ever touched in my life,” William says. “Sometimes it ended up sounding more like synths than a guitar.”

The effects pedals pay off big, turning Paradise into a richer sonic landscape with evocative, unfamiliar sounds sprinkled throughout, some hidden and some so prominent one can’t help but be impressed by their ingenuity.

‘Paradise’ was Recorded Like an Electronic Album

“All our other records sound like live performances frozen in time, this one is more like a collage,” William says.

Credit Stalfors with the band’s deliberate move away from analog techniques this time around. Every instrument was recorded separately for the album, allowing Stalfors and the band members to re-pitch, rearrange and otherwise manipulate every element to their liking with just a few clicks.

They’re Taking Risks They Weren’t Willing to Take Earlier in Their Career

The collage of their latest album is a welcome departure from the well-worn but nonetheless thrilling territory White Lung tread on their first few albums. William credits the band’s growth to their consistently improving songwriting and a new willingness to take bigger risks.

“It’s pretty strange to hear It’s The Evil [White Lung’s 2010 debut LP] and Paradise next to each other because they sound so different,” William says.

They Don’t Record Songs They Can’t Play Properly Live

For all their recent experiments with studio manipulation, White Lung is always considering its live performances, as any raucous punk band should.

“What you hear on the record is what you will hear coming from the stage,” William says. “That used to mean we didn’t do many overdubs on our recordings but now we use a sampler to trigger some extra effects, so I got to add more stuff on this record.”

They’ve Gone From Basement Concerts to High-Profile Music Festivals

The transition from sweaty underground spaces to sweaty outdoor stages is a difficult one for any punk band that earns as much attention as White Lung has in recent years.

William sees pros and cons to both sides: “Playing in basements is great because presumably everyone there likes your band. When you play music festivals, there are college kids out of their minds on MDMA that got lost on the way to AVICII. But at least you won’t die in a house fire or get bit by someone’s dog.”

The Band Members All Refuse to Eat Subway

Just a fun fact, or perhaps something to keep in mind if you ever have the chance to take them out to lunch.