Material for a follow-up to
Pretty. Odd. dates back to at least April 2008, just one month after the release of the record. Former guitarist and primary songwriter Ryan Ross told
NME the band had "nine or ten new songs going right now," which picked up in the same direction of
Pretty. Odd. "It was pretty much the same with the last record," bassist Jon Walker said. "We haven't stopped writing songs since we stopped recording
Pretty. Odd., because we have a lot to write about [...] It's sounding 'pretty awesome,' which is probably what we're going to call the next record," Ross joked. In June 2009, singer Brendon Urie revealed the band had been writing for "roughly half a year now" at Ross'
Topanga Canyon, California, home, and continued to take the band "further down the sun-dappled, retro-pop path [they] began exploring on
Pretty. Odd.": "We've always been a pop band. We've always been fans of pop music, whether it's
The Beatles – which is, like, the beginning of pop music – we've always been fans of good catchy melodies and lighthearted music." Spencer Smith, drummer, added, "We moved to California since the last record, so that's inspiration. We started surfing, too, so maybe we'll get a little
Beach Boys vibe on this one." During this time, Smith moved in with Urie, while Ross began writing his own material with Walker at his home. On July 6, 2009, Ryan Ross and Jon Walker announced via the band's official website that the two were leaving the band. In an interview following the split, Ross explained that he first brought the idea to Smith in late June 2009 over lunch: "Spencer and I had lunch and caught up for a while, and then the big question came up, like, 'Well, what do you want to do?' and I said, 'Well, I think it might be best if we kind of do our own thing for a while,' and he said, 'I'm glad you said that, because I was going to say the same thing,' " Ross recalled. "And there was really no argument, which is really the best way that could've worked out." Ross said the split was largely due to creative differences between him and Urie. Urie wanted the band to explore a more polished pop sound, while Ross — and, by extension, Walker — was interested in making retro-inspired rock. Many of the songs originally created by Ryan and Jon for Panic!'s third album were later recorded and released as part of their new band,
The Young Veins. The news asserted that both tour plans with
Blink-182 in August 2009 and new album production "will continue as previously announced," and the announcement ended with the teaser for a "surprise" soon to come. "New Perspective" was recorded in spring 2009, when the band had just moved out to Topanga. Smith explained the song was inspired by the band's new experiences when there: "We're living near the ocean and going surfing every day, which we've never done before. We tried to get that out in the song, I guess." The band reinserted the exclamation mark into its name a few days after the departure of Ross and Walker. ==Recording and production==