and actress Mandy Moore and relocated from New York City to Los Angeles. Adams released two books of poetry, Infinity Blues and Hello Sunshine, and, in late 2009, began issuing unreleased recordings through his label, PAX AM. Two studio albums, Orion and III/IV, an EP, Class Mythology, and various singles, were released between 2009 and 2010. Regarding his struggles with Ménière's disease, during this time, Adams noted, "It took me a little bit of time to get it under control and get my life under control. I was very, very sick. I was very ill. I had screaming loud noises in my left ear from the tinnitus, and I just felt sick all the time." In October 2010, Adams began making sporadic live performances around Los Angeles, and subsequently embarked upon a European tour in June 2011, performing new songs alongside older material. Regarding the tour, Adams noted, "[It] was the most fun I’ve had ever. I couldn't have imagined it being any better than it was. [...] I just felt really connected and it seemed to me that the people that I was playing for also felt really connected, and it was nice that there wasn’t anything getting in the way of the music." Following the tour's completion, Adams announced that a new studio album, produced by Glyn Johns, father of Ethan Johns (Heartbreaker, Gold and 29) was scheduled for release in October 2011. Writing and composition Regarding the album's title track, Adams noted, "I thought it was implying the reference of a phoenix in a song." Adams ultimately decided to name the album after the song, stating, "I wanted it to sound hot, as in temperature-wise, windows-rolled-down, middle-of-summer, driving-through-California, hot. In all honesty, it was the right title. [...] I was trying to paint this picture of somebody not destroyed by change. I got the idea from the arcade game, Phoenix." Adams does not refer to his struggles with Ménière's disease on the album, noting, "[It] is a personal thing, and I decided it didn't have to have anything to do with my creative life, it didn't need to be a record about recovery." According to Adams, Laura Marling's second studio album, I Speak Because I Can, inspired him to re-write the majority of the album's material. After receiving a copy from former producer Ethan Johns, Adams noted, "I thought: 'For fuck's sake.' I literally threw out 80%