Cody Simpson is an Australian pop singer who was discovered by producer Shawn Campbell after posting covers to his YouTube channel. He and his family moved to California in 2010, and he released his debut EP the same year.

Prior to releasing a full album, Cody released the Coast To Coast and Preview To Paradise EPs. Some songs from the latter made it onto 2012’s Paradise, his official debut record. The next year, Cody released the similarly-titled Surfers Paradise. Both of the titles, and many of the featured songs, were influenced by Cody’s love of the beach — Cody explained why he loves this atmosphere to a fan on Tumblr:

[There is] a feeling of comfort, satisfaction and contentment. A sense of the familiar. Also a sense of the power that nature provides the artist in a very primitive manner.

Cody’s only release in 2014 was an unexpected single called “Surfboard.” The song never made it onto an album, but it shocked many fans with its vulgar lyrics. This track was ultimately his last release with Atlantic Records — just months after it came out, Cody announced this departure in a since-deleted tweet, in which he also confirmed that he would be self-releasing his next album.

Cody released Free in July 2015, an album full of calm acoustic songs like “New Problems,” which is speculated to be about his model ex Gigi Hadid. This was his last solo album before forming the group Cody Simpson & The Tide.