Waterparks are a band with no limits. Endless energy, hidden meanings and fuzzy vocals; a breath of fresh air to the music industry. The band’s fifth studio album, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, is no exception to this, showcasing the very best of the Texan trio’s previous work in a new and exciting way. Taylor, Sam (August 16, 2016). "Sleeping With Sirens, State Champs, Tonight Alive and Waterparks for US tour". Upset Magazine. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016 . Retrieved August 16, 2016.

But beyond the topic of social media, Knight gets admittedly “introspective” on the record. When asked to discuss the overall lyrical themes and concepts behind INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, he takes a deep breath and delivers a warning: Things might get a little turbulent. a b Oken, Ashley (April 10, 2023). "Album Review: Waterparks – 'Intellectual Property' ". The Soundboard . Retrieved April 16, 2023. May, Tamara (October 19, 2019). "Waterparks Release 'Easy To Hate' Music Video". Wall of Sound . Retrieved February 28, 2021. On October 11, 2023, the band released "Sneaking Out of Heaven" and added the song to all streaming versions of the album's standard edition. [13] Composition [ edit ]a b c d e f Oken, Ashley (April 13, 2023). "Album Review: Waterparks- Intellectual Property". New Noise Magazine . Retrieved April 14, 2023. Sarah Jae Leiber (October 17, 2019). "Waterparks Release 'Easy To Hate' Music Video". BroadwayWorld . Retrieved October 17, 2019. When you demo it, I push it to the point where it can’t ever be better than this. We should just put this out. And then I go do the next part with Zakk and I’m like, ‘oh my god, I was so wrong’. Then our friend Jared Poythress adds on additional production and he’s a genius.” With collaboration on the brain, Knight is the first to admit that for many years, he was precious about his art and was hesitant to work with others. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine, Knight changed his mind, which was evident on Waterparks’ previous album, Greatest Hits. This time around, Knight, who’s an outspoken fan of the U.K. boy band One Direction, finally got a chance to live out one of his dreams by working with esteemed songwriter Julian Bunetta, who co-wrote beloved One Direction classics like “Olivia,” “Infinity” and “Best Song Ever,” among others. “I flew to [Julian’s] place in Nashville, and we ended up making five songs together, two of them being ‘FUNERAL GREY’ and ‘BRAINWASHED,’” Knight recalls. And while he still plans to keep the majority of his music close to his chest long term, he won’t rule anything out. Knight would undoubtedly jump at the chance to work with everyone from Post Malone and Damon Albarn to Donald Glover and Toby Keith.

That doesn’t mean these two somewhat similar processes have formed remotely similar records, though.

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And live it’s just so crazy! When we were opening for My Chemical Romance, [which was] the first time we played it, afterwards, multiple people from our crew came up to me and was like, Dude, when you started playing that one, the room like, changed, that shit shifted. So that one’s so important for the live show. That one’s a mood changer. So Otto was immediately all about that. I thought “CLOSER” was really nice on the wordplay because it technically also a closer to the album–because “A NIGHT OUT ON EARTH” is a totally different beast–and you’re also talking about being closer to someone. ARIA Top 20 Vinyl Albums Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. April 24, 2023 . Retrieved April 21, 2023. It was. I always let myself get to a point where it’s very, very vulnerable, and every album has its peaks; but I think this time it was more. I let it be more about other people as well. There’s obviously a lot of emotionally deeper, touchy or, sensitive seeming things, but, I think it’s just maybe more well done this time around. Dowd, Rachel (September 18, 2020). "See Awsten Knight tease a new Waterparks song while cutting off his hair". Alternative Press . Retrieved September 25, 2020.

With ‘Greatest Hits’, I was pretty much solely focused on pushing sonic boundaries for us. Making the most ambitious, creative, accomplished collection of music possible. With ‘Intellectual Property’, I wanted to hold physical instruments again. Force myself to write songs like when I was a teenager. Just me and a guitar singing the dumbest shit ever. For most people, including me, we were writing crap when we were 16.” While this moment will no doubt leaves fans with questions over the future direction of Waterparks, Knight is in no rush to answer them. I’ve got a really bad habit of only listening to Waterparks. I’m always listening to mixes and critiquing–I am gonna give you real answers, I promise. But one thing that I noticed during this cycle, and especially getting semi towards the end, I wasn’t letting myself listen to music as passively. I realized that I just had it on all the time. Certain things that would normally emotionally hit me affect me more, weren’t doing it as much. I feel like I was almost desensitizing myself to it. When I get in the car, I would just put something on and zone out, so I put on a podcast or like a YouTube thing instead. Then, whenever it was time to listen to music, I would do it sparingly and consciously. Merchant, Anam (February 9, 2016). "Never Shout Never and Metro Station breeze through Chicago". Substream Magazine. Archived from the original on February 28, 2016 . Retrieved April 30, 2016.Ryan (January 18, 2018). "Waterparks Share New Song "Not Warriors" ". Sound Fiction . Retrieved January 30, 2022.