The band toured the UK shortly afterwards; "Van Der Graaff" was released as the album's second single in May 2013. Anna received mixed reviews from critics, with some commenting on the production, while others thought the songs were uninspired. In June and July 2011, the band performed at Delamere Forest, in addition to playing at the Haigh Live and Isle of Wight Festivals. At the end of the year, the band played three UK shows in their hometown of Manchester in December 2011. This period of time allowed him to re-listen to the songs they had up to that point, which he felt could be improved upon.

Fray intentionally wanted to work with someone within the members' age range; he met Cross while at a party, who inquired about what new material the band had. In September 2013, the band performed at the Ibiza Rocks festival and Fray embarked on a solo acoustic tour of the UK, some shows included matinee performances. It peaked at number six in the UK Albums Chart; out of its three singles, "You Overdid It Doll" reached the highest at number 24 in the United Kingdom. Fray described the final artwork as attempting to "convey that kind of elegance but a bit more industrial". The album's closing song "Here Come the Young Men" features guitar riffs in the style of the Vaccines.The album reached number six in the United Kingdom, number seven in Scotland and number 85 in Ireland. They played a few shows in 2011, spending most of the year working on their next album, debuting some new songs in the process. BBC Music's Natalie Hardwick noted that the album was "strategic in its experimentation, but represents a fairly dramatic departure from its makers’ brand, so hats off to that". Islington Gazette 's Stephen Moore commented that the "sluggish feel to much of the LP that drowns out, or at least distracts from, what was once a key strength".

Sometime after, they had accumulated six-to-seven new songs, though Fray was unsure of what direction they would take.

It evolved out of "Gin on Friday", a song that dated back from the period of their 2007 debut single "Cavorting"; while "Gin on Friday" revolved about being in one's late teens, "Here Come the Young Men" saw the band "looking back over those years, but also saying that we’re not finished yet". musicOMH contributor Howard Gorman countered this by writing that Fray's "solid vocals keep the album on track and worthy of hearing through to the end". evokes the sound of Doves, and describes a woman who enjoys the idea of love than the person she is with. He explained that the material on Falcon were written as acoustic songs, whereas for the new material, he was "building [them] up and getting drum beats and bass parts down" prior to them entering a studio.