Cape God was originally intended as a sister record to the EP, though Allie X later decided to split the project into a separate album.

"[5] Allie X drew inspiration for the album from the characters within Heroin: Cape Cod, USA, a 2015 documentary about the opioid epidemic in Massachusetts.

[4] She wrote songs from the point of view of one of the documentary's characters,[5] and developed a fictionalized Cape Cod in her mind as a way to reflect on her personal experiences.

[4] She met producer Oscar Görres and songwriter James Alan Ghaleb in Stockholm, shortly after writing the opening line for the album's first track "Fresh Laundry".

She described her songwriting process as "seamless, therapeutic, and very enjoyable," though she also credited Görres's production for being able to complement her "layered kind of complex lyrics".

[4] The standard edition album cover photograph was shot in a cave in upstate New York by Brendon Burton, using natural light and a smoke bomb.

[5] The album opens with "Fresh Laundry", described by Sarah Shodipe from The Line Of Best Fit as lo-fi, while Stuart Derdeyn of Vancouver Sun wrote that the song had a "big booming beat, spooky vocal and splashy keyboard hook".

[11] Reviews widely described "Super Duper Party People" as the album's standout track, while noting its corny title.

musicOMH described it as "a bass-led anthem" with lyrics about people at "a particularly seedy nightclub",[1] DIY said the track "perfectly displays [Allie X]'s ability to create a refreshing take on what could otherwise be by-numbers pop",[9] while Exclaim!