Following a two-month hiatus after writing material for their seventh album, Zebrahead returned to Europe in May 2007 on a co-headline tour with MxPx and went on to tour the UK as part of the annual Get Happy Tour the following October. Afterwards, the band continued writing and recorded demos with producers Jason Freese, Howard Benson and Cameron Webb. The album, "Phoenix", was released in July 2008, preceded by the "Not the New Album EP" a day earlier. The band later returned to the UK and performed at the Download, Leeds Slam Dunk and Greenfield festivals, before going on to tour the rest of Europe and Japan for the remainder of the year. An American leg of the tour was originally planned to take place after, however, Lewis became ill, and in order to avoid permanent damage to his voice, the tour was cancelled.