A Kickstarter project entitled "The Classic Crime's New Album" was created on March 8, 2012 with a funding goal of $30,000 and was met within the first twenty-four hours of the project being posted. By April 12, 2012, the end of the funding period, the project had received $86,278 in pledges from 1,981 backers. Lead singer Matt MacDonald described the title,
Phoenix, as cliche but symbolic, stating that hope for the future of the band is "back, it's different, you know? It's better than it was but it's back". MacDonald compared the styling of the songs to previous albums saying, "For those of you who prefer
Albatross, there are 3 songs you will gravitate to. For those of you who like
The Silver Cord, there are probably 5 songs you will gravitate to. For those of you who like when we stretch the boundaries a bit, there are another 4 tracks you'll probably be ecstatic about.". ==Track listing==