[5] Loosely inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald's essay collection of the same name, it is the follow-up to their 2011 album Helplessness Blues, following the band's three-year hiatus from 2013 to 2016.

[1] Fleet Foxes released the first song from the album on March 7, 2017: "Third of May / Ōdaigahara", a "nearly nine-minute epic powered by piano and electric twelve-string guitar, string quartet, and the group's trademark sparkling harmonies";[8][9] on the same day, Robin Pecknold appeared on Apple Music's Beats 1 radio station to discuss the new song, as well as the band's hiatus and their upcoming tour.

[10][11] The song was released via Fleet Foxes' new YouTube channel,[12] coupled with a lyric video created by Sean Pecknold and Adi Goodrich.

[18][19][20] An album trailer made by Sean Pecknold was released on YouTube on April 4, 2017, featuring in-studio footage as well as previews of many forthcoming songs.

[28][29][30][31] A second track "Fool's Errand" was released on May 12,[32][33][34][35] along with a music video created by Sean Pecknold and Adi Goodrich, and starring Jade-Lorna Sullivan.

[71] In his review for AllMusic, Timothy Monger wrote that the album was, "Orchestral, experimental, and more challenging than either of the band's previous releases, it's a natural fit for the Nonesuch label, whose heritage was built on such attributes.

"[72] Ian Cohen for Pitchfork gave similar praise by stating that, "Crack-Up supports the heft of Pecknold's concerns by working on a massive scale that no band is really attempting in 2017, let alone able to accomplish.