Struggling with writer's block, vocalist Daniel Campbell spoke with several friends who were in bands for inspiration.

Between 2010 and 2013, the Wonder Years released a trilogy of albums (The Upsides [2010], Suburbia I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing [2011] and The Greatest Generation [2013]) that dealt with vocalist Daniel Campbell's struggles of being scared, loneliness and feeling lost.

[4] These albums helped increase the band's popularity, "cementing themselves as [pop punk]'s leading force", according to Alternative Press reviewer Evan Lucy.

[6] With this project, Campbell pushed himself "to make a piece of fiction feel just as raw and personal as songs about my life".

[9] Instead of giving up, Campbell started talking to the lyricists from both Fireworks and Hostage Calm, Ace Enders of The Early November, and Jason Aalon Butler of letlive.

[9] About the album's title, Campbell explained: "I was at this turning point with the [new] record where I was like, "I don't want to write about the suburban American experience anymore [...]" I was thinking about other things in life [...] It started to feel like I was in a footrace with an expanding universe, and I was never going to get to the finish line.

[15] Campbell wrote all the lyrics in, according to the album booklet, "his bedroom and various coffee shops or parks.

"[15] Jason Aalon Butler provided additional lyrics for "Stained Glass Ceilings" while in the break room at the studio.

[12] Campbell explained that he attempted to write a verse "if [a person] had come out of the coma [scenario]".

"[19] Additional group vocals were provided by Allison Weiss, Charlie Saxton, Brett Jones, Joanna Katcher, Natalie Schaffer and Dave Summers.

[15] On June 29, 2015 The Wonder Years announced No Closer to Heaven, and the track listing and cover art was revealed.

[27] On July 31, the band released a music video for "Cigarettes & Saints",[28] which was directed by Jeremi Mattern[29] of Driver Friendly.

[32] To help promote the release, the band performed a series of in-store acoustic shows between late August and early September.

[20] The Target edition includes a new song, "Slow Dancing with San Andreas" and an alternative version of "Palm Reader".

[33] The band went on a headlining fall tour in October and November with support from Motion City Soundtrack, State Champs, and You Blew It!.

It featured Campbell and Justin Pierre of Motion City Soundtrack having traded instrumental tracks of songs from each bands' latest albums and wrote their own lyrics over them.

In March and April, the group went on a headlining US tour with support from letlive., Tiny Moving Parts and Microwave.

[36] In October and November, the group went on a headlining US tour with support from Real Friends, Knuckle Puck, Seaway and Moose Blood.

[47] No Closer to Heaven sold 22,144 copies in the first week, making it the largest first-week sales of their career.