Record production of the album was handled by John Feldmann, The Monsters and the Strangerz, David Hodges and Mike Green.

Recording and writing started after the band became popular worldwide with the release of their debut album, 5 Seconds of Summer, and two of its singles in particular, "She Looks So Perfect" and "Amnesia".

At 52 minutes and 57 seconds in length, it is the band’s longest studio album to date.

Following the release of their live album LiveSOS in 2014, 5 Seconds of Summer took a break for the holidays.

The band flew to Los Angeles in early 2015 to start writing and recording what was to become their second album.

[5] On their headline tour beginning in early May, they began performing "Permanent Vacation" which was a new song off their album.

Each pre-order got an instant download of the new tracks "She's Kinda Hot", "Fly Away",[7] "Jet Black Heart", "Money", and "Hey Everybody".

In order to promote the album, the band embarked on the Sounds Live Feels Live World Tour which visits countries in Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania from February to October 2016.

In total, according to Billboard Boxcore, the tour grossed $39 million from 743,906 sold seats at 102 performances.

[16] The album was generally praised for its maturity compared to the band's debut, but criticized for its lack of cohesiveness and cliche themes.

[18] Awarding the album four stars at Alternative Press, Maria Sherman states, "the band have a real responsibility to the consumer, and Sounds Good Feels Good delivers...It's 5SOS' attempt to find community in their new sound and those who support it, a concept that lives both on the record and well outside of it.

5 Seconds of Summer became the first band (not vocal group) to have their first two full-length albums debut at number one in the US.