It was released in February 1984 by record label Reflex.

The album was recorded in September 1983 and produced by the Cure's Lol Tolhurst.

Their sound stood out from that of their gothic rock peers, as it was greatly influenced by the rural surroundings of Worcestershire (the band's place of origin), poetry (on the lyrical side) and Old England.

In August 2020, the band re-released their debut album on Bandcamp, now digitally remastered, including songs off of their 'From Under The Hill' demo (previously released on cassette only in late 1981 and mixed by Robert Smith of The Cure) and contains singles "Shantell" (1983) and "The Secret Sea" (1984) from that period.

AllMusic wrote, "While lacking in immediately catchy songs – partially due to the fact that at this point the band generally favoured series of verses or poetry without rhyme to more conventional lyric structures – the album still kicks up some smoke".