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In many respects, Christensen's fourth studio album is a clear break with his previous albums. Among others the mixing and mastering are performed by different people than those Christensen usually worked with. This was because he wanted to try something new. He wanted to record in a new manner, with a new co-producer and in a new studio.
Christensen's first three solo albums got progressively quieter and more mature but this trend has come to a halt with this album being "noticeably less quiet than Superior." Christensen also announced well in advance that "the album has a lot of rock elements here and there. In general you can say that it's less acoustic and less traditional singer/songwriter-ish as last time and more outgoing and band-like," He nevertheless had to fight off the expectations he is making music in line with his former band, Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, with whom he had been on a reunion tour prior to recording this album. He claims to have kept Dizzy Mizz Lizzy "extremely separated" from his professional development.
Previously, Christensen used to write the songs and record the bulk of instruments by himself, but this time he chose to compose and record the album with the backing band he has had since 2005, which is now named The Damn Crystals. Christensen felt that working as a team during the Superior tour had turned out very well which is why he chose to invite the band members to join him throughout the entire creative process. It was described as coming out of his comfort zone, letting go of control, and breaking with his ego-trip. According to Christensen, "I posed myself a bit of a challenge to let others join in, but it has actually been surprisingly easy," and "A totally different energy has come to this plate because we worked with four more on it. On the whole it has become so much better."
A total of 12 songs were being considered for the new album.
The album opens with the 11-minute progrock title track "The Damn Crystals". This may be a contracted track of "Reach Out" and "Where the Wild Roses Grow", which are two song titles that appear on an alternate track listing from which the title track's name is missing.
"Surprise Me" was the first single off the album, released on 24 October 2011. According to Christensen, "the single might be the most classic rock-track of the bunch."
"Love and Water" was originally written for Honeyburst while "I'll Let You Know" was written for Christensen's first solo album Secrets on Parade but was skipped as it did not fit into that album's context.
The title to "Far Beyond Driven" was borrowed from Pantera's album title Far Beyond Driven, as Christensen used it as a placeholder lyric when playing a song hook on the acoustic guitar, but was unable to find better lyrics to replace it.
It was uncertain whether the ballad "Never Be One Until We're Two" would be released on this album because of the heavier sound Christensen intended to give this album. The song was known to the audience because Christensen had played it on several occasions, including at Lille VEGA in Copenhagen on 16 September 2009 and on a Dutch radio show on 12 November 2009.
- Tim Christensen and The Damn Crystals
- Tim Christensen – lead vocals, guitars, record producer
- Lars Skjærbæk – guitars, vocals
- Søren Koch – bass guitar, vocals
- Christoffer Møller – keyboards, vocals
- Jesper Lind – drums
- Production
- Rune Harder Olesen – additional percussion
- Frank Birch Pontoppidan – engineer and mixer (on tracks 1–9), producer
- Flemming Rasmussen – mixer (on track 2)
- Rune Nissen-Petersen – engineer and mixer (on track 10)
- The Damn Crystals – producer
- Nick Foss – executive producer
- Mads Mølgaard Helbæk – assistant engineer
- George Marino – mastering
- Nikolaj Vinten – additional mastering and editing
- Paul Wilson – art director
- Helene Hasen – photography
- Silke Hansen – model
- Sabrina Szinay – stylist
- Henrik Seifert – manager
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