mckee announced in may 2009 that he was intending to finish touring in the second half of the year and concentrate on recording his upcoming album. he stated in july 2009 that it will most likely be titled "joyland", the title track of the album which originally went under the name "music for a vacant amusement park." the song was inspired by an amusement park in topeka, kansas named boyle's joyland that was open from 1951 to 1988. the album was completed in november 2009 and was released in itunes on march 23, 2010, and in stores on march 30, 2010 on razor & tie. according to mckee, "on this album i've branched out a bit and included some instrumentation on a couple of songs. there's also a new harpguitar tune and a couple of covers such as "layover" by michael hedges and tears for fears' "everybody wants to rule the world."