What Separates Me from You is the fourth studio album by American rock band A Day to Remember, and their third and final for Victory Records. Originally planned for release in late-October 2010, the album was delayed by a few weeks until mid-November. What Separates Me from You was released on November 15, 2010, in the UK, and on November 16 in the US. The album, which was recorded mainly at The Wade Studios in Ocala, Florida, from May to July 2010, was the first to feature guitarist Kevin Skaff. The album was produced mostly by Chad Gilbert, with help from Andrew Wade and the band's vocalist, Jeremy McKinnon. "All I Want" was released as the first single. It reached number 12 on the U.S. Alternative Songs chart and number 25 on the Rock Songs chart.
The album debuted on the U.S. Billboard 200 at number 11, and number 1 on several charts: Top Hard Rock Albums, Top Independent Albums, Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums in the U.S. and the Rock Album Chart in the UK. The band played two songs from the album on their national TV debut in January 2011, and then went on The Game Changers Tour to help promote the album; shortly afterwards touring worldwide in support of the release. Two later singles off the album charted: "All Signs Point to Lauderdale", released in May, reached number 32 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, and radio single "It's Complicated", released in October, peaked at number 34 on the same chart. What Separates Me from You was met with generally favorable reviews, with critics praising the album's sound. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA in March 2016, and "All I Want" was certified gold in August. The album was certified Silver in the UK by the BPI.
Background
While the band was touring Homesick (2009), a line-up change occurred when guitarist Tom Denney wanted to settle down. Four Letter Lie guitarist Kevin Skaff was added in his place; Denney, however, was retained to work with the band behind the scenes. All of the songs for What Separates Me from You were written while the band were touring in 2009 and 2010, and as early as March 2010, vocalist Jeremy McKinnon stated that A Day to Remember already had "all of the pop/punk song ideas written [...] And we're then going to write five heavier songs".
Music and lyrics
Styles and amount of material
Musically, the album has been described as pop punk, post-hardcore, and metalcore. Guitarist Neil Westfall said in a 2010 interview with Alter the Press!: "We've written a few jams, we're always constantly writing, like I think we wrote some parts the other day." Westfall also said once the band return home from touring, they were "going to drop everything and start writing and doing pre-production full time." At this point, the band had ten songs and were trying to condense them into five, then planning to write five more. Westfall said the band completed the final "few songs when we were back home with Tom (Denney) and Chad (Gilbert)." On the pace of writing, McKinnon said: "It seems like a really fast thing that has happened but we've been constantly working on it the entire time." On the songs themselves, he said: "the pop-punk stuff has a darker edge to it. I wrote it like that, it's still pop-punk but with a darker edge". The album was influenced by Finch's What It Is to Burn (2002). The album "came together song by song" as McKinnon mentioned, with the band coming up with 15–16 song ideas. McKinnon stated in an interview with Rocksound that there's songs "that didn't make this record that we're saving." There is a track on the album that was previously written for Homesick.
