"We wanted to sit down and conceptually work out songs"

This quote by Mike Lowry recommends that he and his band wanted to take a more innovative method to writing songs. Instead of merely composing lyrics and tunes, they wanted to take an action back and consider the songs conceptually. This might indicate that they wished to think of the general message of the song, the emotions they wished to evoke, and the story they wanted to inform. It might also mean that they wanted to think about the structure of the tune, the instrumentation, and the production. By taking a more conceptual method to songwriting, they might create something that was more meaningful and impactful.