The songs on Beyond the Neighbourhood mixed electronica and rock, while the themes tackle topics such as the effects of modern living, war and global warming.

[4] They located a storage unit on the Greenwich industrial estate in London, which previously served as a mechanic's warehouse, and built their own studio in it.

[7] The band made a performance area in the middle of the studio and hooked up a series of microphones and digital interface cables, which would allow them to record jam sessions directly to the Pro Tools software.

Pott, bassist Carey Willetts and keyboardist Tim Wanstall spent time writing material individually, while drummer Steve Roberts experimented with beats.

They purposely avoided a clean sound, opting for a rawer tone for the viola, violin and cello, which they did by placing one microphone close and another further away from the instruments.

[8] During the sessions, they listened to works from Iain Archer, Autechre, Broken Social Scene, Bernhard Fleischmann and Sufjan Stevens.

[8] Willetts said Ben H. Allen's mix was "exciting and different", removing a drum break and replaced it with a bass part, something he said the band would not have thought of.

[8] The band promptly spent two weeks at Chung King Studios, where a number of hip hop albums had been made, in New York City with him in March 2007 as he mixed the rest of the songs.

[8] Willetts said Allen's preference for mixing songs is from the hip hop perspective of: "take more or less everything out apart from kick, snare and bass, so that impact can be made when guitars and keyboards are brought back during choruses".

As the band built up songs with guitars, keyboards and pianos, this became a point of contention, resulting in long talks about music and mixing.

They drafted in Cenzo Townshend to mix four of the tracks that had more of a live atmosphere, namely "Hurricane", "Tokyo", "Airport Disco" and "Second Hand Stores".

[12] Discussing influences behind the album, Roberts said they were listening to Canadian acts, such as Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene and Stars, and electronic artists like Björk, Dizzee Rascal and DJ Shadow.

[13] While Tourist dealt with personal topics, Pott opted to tackle situations worldwide: "There's been stuff going on in the world over the last couple of years that's been pretty mental.

[7] The album's opening track, the instrumental "In Between 2 States", sets the tone for the rest of the songs as it showcases the band's electronic shift as Mogwai-esque guitars are moved to the wayside.

[4][17] "Hurricane" talks about natural disasters and the rise of typhoons in the US, while "Tokyo", which was written after visiting the city of the same name, discusses the Human condition.

[18] "Best Not to Think About It" addresses the September 11 attacks, being directly influenced by a documentary on the people who jumped from the two towers, where Pott changed this into a metaphor for love.

[21] That same month, the band previewed some songs from their forthcoming album at a few warm up shows, leading into a three-night residency at the Koko in London.

[31][32][25] Explaining the long gap between recording finishing and the release of the album, Roberts said their label wanted them to do festivals before they started promoting it.

[11] The staff at Now wrote that album was not the band's "triumph, but with far more rock moments, spacey sounds and well-placed hooks, [...] they’ve redeemed themselves a little".

[46] PopMatters contributor Aarik Danielsen noted that while it is "often reflective and introspective," it can switch gears to "become rousing and moving at a moment’s notice".

[6] The Guardian writer David Peschek, on the other hand, said as he listened to the album, "you find yourself spending an awful lot of time asking yourself whether you're feeling anything yet".

[44] The Line of Best Fit's Simon Gurney felt the electronic inclusions were "sadly under utilized on this album", while its "potential is often scuppered, either through Pott’s peculiar vocal tendencies [...] or songs that just don’t stand out".

[15] Shain Shapiro of Drowned in Sound echoed a similar sentiment, stating that the band barely "scratch the surface protecting the periphery, as this collection of musical oddities is not odd in the slightest".

[48] Pitchfork contributor Ian Cohen said with their decision to self-produce, they "indiscriminately tack classy-sounding loops and keyboards onto songs that are even more hermetic and lifeless than before".

Launch countered this by saying the album "balances its meat and veg indie with enough electronic textures and hip hop beats to (sort of) catch the ear".

[47] BBC Music's Helen Groom felt the self-produced direction enabled a "more organic, relaxed sound, as if the band took the time to create something distinctly 'Athlete-y'"[19] Brown said it was "still very much an album for the mainstream.