For the album, Crane brought in progressive rock veterans Jakko Jakszyk (King Crimson) and Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), the first time the pair have performed together.

[6] During the writing process, Crane became obsessed with Victorian era books on botany and floriography – a means of cryptological communication through the use or arrangement of flowers – a theme that would run throughout the record both lyrically and visually.

[8] Scott Reeder, formally of American rock band Kyuss, contributed to the album by providing bass and backing vocals for a couple of songs remotely from his home in America.

[1] Impressed with what he had heard in the studio, Jakszyk brought in multi-instrumentalist Danny Thompson to play Double bass on the closing track of the album, "The Eve Of The Hunter", and uilleann piper John Devine for "Painted World".

[9] It was around this time that Crane was introduced to one of her heroes, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, due to a calculated seating arrangement at King Crimson's 50th anniversary residency at the Royal Albert Hall in London that Jakszyk had planned as a joke.

[8][7] When it came to the point of adding embellishments on the record, Crane turned to German musician and classical composer Shir-Ran Yinon to provide violin on multiple songs.

[8] Early in the creation process for the album Deep Blue, Crane visualised each song as having a corresponding piece of artwork, owing to her chromesthesia – a type of synesthesia in which sound involuntarily evokes an experience of colour.