[3] The Maine formed in January 2007, consisting of John O'Callaghan on vocals, Kennedy Brock and Jared Monaco on guitar, Garrett Nickelsen on bass and Pat Kirch on drums.

In November of that year, the group signed to independent label Fearless Records and announced the release date for The Way We Talk.

[4] Speaking about the EP, O'Callaghan stated, "The Way We Talk is a collection of songs that revolve around the theme of communication while in a relationship and how it changes as we grow up.

Carlos Ramirez of AltSounds praised songs like "Give Me Anything" and "If I Only Had the Heart" calling them an "infectious attack."

"[7] Nathan Lint of AbsolutePunk stated, "they stepped it up – trying to put themselves as far out there as possible, trying to let people know that they might be a bunch of teenagers but they're here to work and have fun."