Invented is the seventh studio album by American rock band Jimmy Eat World. Following the release of Chase This Light (2007), frontman Jim Adkins began a writing exercise that involved writing about photographs, which would serve as the lyrical basis for their next album. Recorded primarily at the band's home-based studio, the sessions were co-produced by Mark Trombino. Described as a power pop album, it featured guest vocals from Courtney Marie Andrews and Rachel Haden. Several of the songs earned comparisons to Foo Fighters, the Offspring, and Rites of Spring, among others.
Preceded by the release of "My Best Theory" in August 2010, Invented appeared on September 28, through DGC and Interscope Records. It was met with a favorable reaction from music critics, with comments on the album's production and the band's musicianship. Invented charted at number 11 on the US Billboard 200, and appeared on two other component charts. It reached the top 30 in Australia, Canada, and the UK. It was promoted with tours of the US and Europe, prior to the single release of "Coffee and Cigarettes" in November. Throughout 2011, the group performed in the US, Japan, Australia and Europe.
Background
Jimmy Eat World released their sixth album Chase This Light in October 2007. It peaked at number five on the US Billboard 200 chart, and was promoted with tours of the US, Europe and Japan, followed by a co-headlining US tour with Paramore. By June 2008, bassist Rick Burch said they were working several new ideas. Around this time, frontman Jim Adkins started a writing exercise in which he viewed photographs and wrote his own back stories for them. He spent around 10 minutes looking at every aspect of the photograph and writing his impressions. "Later on in the day, I would be working on my own songs, and some of the more interesting parts of those writing sessions started creeping in", Adkins said.
Adkins said that around 85–90% of the album's lyrics stem from this writing experiment and that Sherman's Completely Untitled Film Still series and Hannah Starkey's Photographs 1997–2007 were key influences. In August 2008, drummer Zach Lind said the band was expected to be working on the new album imminently. While working on this new material, the band embarked upon a 10-year anniversary tour for their third album, Clarity (1999). Adkins said the trek had no influence on the forthcoming material but acted as an "overall confidence booster".
Production
When making demos for their next album, guitarist Tom Linton said they purposely wanted to take a more stripped down approach, compared to the heavily produced nature of Chase This Light. While on the anniversary tour, the band became reacquainted with Clarity producer Mark Trombino and decided to work with him once again for their forthcoming album. Trombino's involvement was made public in September 2009 when the band announced that they were working on a "batch of songs" with him. The band subsequently began recording tracks at their home studio and rehearsal space, Unit 2 in Tempe, Arizona. They would then send them to Trombino, who was located in California; he contributed parts to the recordings.
Adkins remarked that Trombino would make a "mix of it and add production ideas and we would just kind of go back and forth like that. [He] is the wizard at computers, ... [and due to the band's history with him,] it made sense on the familiarity level and the ease of working level". Although the band and Trombino spent little time together in the studio, Trombino joined Jimmy Eat World on a couple of occasions. The strings for "Heart Is Hard to Find" and "Littlething" were recorded by Wesley Seidman at Capitol Studios, assisted by Paul Smith. Regarding the overall recording process, Adkins stated: "It frees up a lot of our geographic restrictions for both the producer and the band; it's not just someone next door." In March 2010, the band had finished mixing the album.