Three variations of the vinyl record were made available: a standard black color, a red and blue blend sold from Rough Trade Records, and a coke-bottle-clear color sold through the band's webstore.

Rough Trade also offered a bonus CD which features alternate versions of the tracks "A Word & A Wave", "In Manhattan" and "Miranda", plus a remix of the band's 2020 single "A Different Kind of Life" by producer Nick Millhiser.

[1] Austin Brown of Pitchfork said, "The band’s decision to expand their swagger and invest in more complex synth work pushes them to new territory, and the most remarkable digressions from their comfort zone point towards a future beyond pastiche.

"[8] Similarly, Allmusic's Marcy Donelson writes how, "the detailing and variable arrangements here, combined with engaging songs, lift A Way Forward above the level of genre exercise, occasionally into something more compositional".

[9] All lyrics are written by Nation of Language; all music is composed by Ian Richard Devaney, Aidan Noell, and Michael Sue-Poi