Side projects and solo work

During the time, Howerdel continued to work on projects with various past A Perfect Circle members. In 2005, he wrote and composed the soundtrack to Jak X: Combat Racing , collaborating with Van Leeuwen, Lenchantin, and Freese on a number of tracks. Howerdel continued to work on recording a solo album from 2005 through 2007; the sessions were difficult, so he eventually began collaborating with past A Perfect Circle members, including Lohner as a producer, Freese as a drummer, and Lenchantin as a co-writer for a track. The material was eventually released under the name Ashes Divide on the album Keep Telling Myself It’s Alright in early 2008. Meanwhile, Keenan had moved on from working with Tool, and started up a solo-project of sorts on his own, called Puscifer , of which he began releasing studio albums for in 2007. Despite both projects going, both Keenan and Howerdel released statements in 2008 that the band was not dead.