After their 2014 tour of Europe, Guitarist Frank "Poncho" Sampedro retired from the group due to arthritis in both hands.

[3] The band went on hiatus and Young recorded three albums with Lukas and Micah Nelson's Promise of the Real.

For their first shows together in 2018 without Sampedro, and for Colorado, Young enlisted longtime collaborator Nils Lofgren to play guitar.

In a 2021 post to his website, Young describes "Rainbow of Colors" as "a song about the diversity of America and how strong it remains even under attacks from the harbors of White Supremacy.

White Supremacy, now in its early death throes here in America, is the root cause of violence around the country, with the Dept of Homeland Security calling it the largest threat to peace inside the USA today.” In a 2019 post, Young explains the urgency for unity as the world seeks to address its social and environmental challenges: "Rainbow of Colors" is a song about the USA and the whole world.

The album was recorded at Studio in the Clouds near Telluride, Colorado over an 11 day stretch in April, 2019.

Young and the group employed oxygen to help combat the 9200 foot elevation at the studio during recording.

[4] Young recalls to Conan O'Brien: "This is a record that took eleven straight days and nights.

[7][8] Three of the songs on the album were recorded live the previous winter in Minneapolis and Winnipeg, and then overdubbed during the sessions.