I'm with You Sessions

I'm with You Sessions, also referred to as the I'm with You Singles Collection or I'm Beside You, is a set of nine singles by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. These 17 tracks were recorded during the making of their tenth studio album, I'm with You (2011). Rick Rubin produced the project, with each single offering an A-side and a B-side on 7" vinyl and as digital downloads worldwide. In November 2013, the songs were compiled into a double LP called I'm Beside You, sold exclusively for Record Store Day.

The unreleased material was first hinted at by drummer Chad Smith in a May 2012 Twitter Q&A, where he said the leftover songs would eventually come out. He later added that the band would release ten of them on 7-inch and digital formats within six months. Bassist Flea then clarified that 18 songs from the sessions would appear over that period, also noting the band was writing new music while touring. Guitarist Josh Klinghoffer described selecting the tracks as a special task, saying some songs "seemed to want to pair up and take a later train." Smith explained they wanted the songs out because they genuinely liked them and didn't want them lost, preferring to release them for fans rather than waiting for a future box set. He called "Long Progression" a "midtempo funk" piece and mentioned the band was working on new material, unsure if they'd revisit these tracks later.

All 17 songs came from the I'm with You sessions. "Long Progression," the B-side to "Strange Man," nearly made the album but was dropped for "Goodbye Hooray." "In Love Dying" is an eight-minute track recorded in one take, spanning both sides of a single, with Klinghoffer telling Rolling Stone they'd use a fade-out and fade-in trick. He described "Victorian Machinery" as sounding like "a big three-headed monster playing drums" and called "Never Is a Long Time" a "pop-tastic" number with Greg Kurstin on piano, capturing "absolute magic." Producer Rubin said the band used a democratic voting process for the album, noting that some of his personal favorites didn't make the cut. Klinghoffer added that the band did post-session work on some B-sides in 2012 and 2013, and that they recorded 48 songs total, with a few likely staying on their iPods.