Inspired by the Manukau Harbour and life events of vocalist and songwriter Hollie Fullbrook, including a miscarriage, the album was recorded in 2021 by the band, and released in April 2023, after the birth of Fulbrook's first child.

[3][2] Fullbrook's emotions changed from numbness and grief into anger, leading her to part ways with her previous record labels, and feeling the need to transform her loss into something meaningful.

Fullbrook and Tiny Ruins toured Olympic Girls for eighteen months, returning to New Zealand in early 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

[2][3] Fullbrook revisited the poems she had written during her miscarriage, and in mid-2020 wrote much of the album at a wellness retreat in Raglan, where she stayed alone in a disused train carriage.

[2] The recording sessions for Ceremony were mostly finished by late 2021, and the band decided to delay the release of the album, to allow Fullbrook and her partner to have a baby.

[17] Tony Stamp of Radio New Zealand felt that the band members of Tiny Ruins were a crucial part of Ceremony, with them acting "as a support system for Fullbrook – staying out of her way during vocal flights, and filling the gaps with sound when it's needed".