Editing Deja Entendu (section)

==Background==
Brand New's second studio album was written in "the year-and-a-half or two years" that they were touring the material from ''Your Favorite Weapon''.<ref name="Billfeat"/> According to drummer Brian Lane, "Jesse [Lacey] wrote a lot of the lyrics about different things than 'I just broke up with my girlfriend' for the new record."<ref name="Billfeat">{{Cite magazine
| url = https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/68926/brand-new
| title = Brand New
| magazine = [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]
| author = Barry A. Jeckell
| date = 2003-09-29
| accessdate = 2010-10-17}}</ref> Lacey wrote the songs on an [[acoustic guitar]] in his bedroom.<ref name="Already">{{Cite web
| url = http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1472833/20030618/brand_new.jhtml
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20031204140907/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1472833/20030618/brand_new.jhtml
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = December 4, 2003
| title = Already Heard Of Underground Upstarts Brand New? Consider Yourself Lucky
| publisher = [[MTV]]
| author = Joe D'Angelo
| accessdate = 2010-10-17}}</ref>

"I'm surprised that so many bands just keep putting out the same record as they did previously. We try to flex as much of our diversity muscles… as we can," Lacey said about the band's development.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2003-07-25 |title=CATCH BRAND NEW SOUND ON TOUR |url=https://www.dailypress.com/2003/07/25/catch-brand-new-sound-on-tour/ |access-date=2024-09-16 |website=Daily Press |language=en-US}}</ref>

The album was produced by Steven Haigler.<ref name="Santangelo7">Santangelo 2003, p. 7</ref>

=== Album title ===
''Deja Entendu'' literally translates to "already heard" in French. Frontman Jesse Lacey told ''[[MTV]]'' that the title was a "tongue-in-cheek" commentary about the band's music, stating: "No matter who you are or what your band is about, you can't put a record out without people saying it's derivative of something else. So by saying the record's already been heard, it's kind of like saying, 'Yeah, you're right. We're doing something that's already been done before.' We're not trying to break new ground in music. We're just trying to make good music."<ref name="Already2">{{cite web |last=D'Angelo |first=Joe |title=Already Heard of Underground Upstarts Brand New? Consider Yourself Lucky |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1472833/20030618/brand_new.jhtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031204140907/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1472833/20030618/brand_new.jhtml |archive-date=December 4, 2003 |access-date=2009-07-24 |publisher=MTV}}</ref> He also said that bands like [[Sigur Rós]] and [[Outkast]] were uniquely "groundbreaking" as "there is new territory to be charted, but I don't necessarily think that we're the ones to be doing it."<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Kerswell |first=Ronnie |date=January 2024 |title=Brand New: Young Heart Attacks |journal=[[Louder Sound]] |issue=56 |pages=32–34}}</ref>

=== Cover artwork ===
The cover art for ''Deja Entendu'' was designed by musicians [[Don Clark (musician)|Don]] and [[Ryan Clark (musician)|Ryan Clark]] of the band [[Demon Hunter (band)|Demon Hunter]], who ran the graphic design studio [[Invisible Creature]]. The band contacted the studio in early 2003 with just the album's title as a reference point, contacting the studio only once before receiving the final product. Don Clark said in 2015 that, "If I could go back, there are a zillion little things I would do differently. I was much younger (and greener) at the time, so some of the light and shadow work is a bit clunky." However, both Clark and [[DIY (magazine)|''DIY'']] agreed that the cover became an "iconic image" for an album that "from a musical standpoint, was way ahead of its time."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-06-01 |title=Inside the Artwork: the story behind Brand New's 'Déjà Entendu' |url=https://diymag.com/feature/inside-the-artwork-the-story-behind-brand-news-deja-entendu |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=DIY |language=en}}</ref>