With the release of A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar (2003), Dashboard Confessional solidified its line-up of vocalist/guitarist Chris Carrabba, bassist Scott Schoenbeck, guitarist John Lefler and drummer Mike Marsh.

[3] The group contributed the track "Vindicated", which was produced by Don Gilmore, to the Spider-Man 2 soundtrack[4] released in June 2004.

Though Carrabba considered a lot of it unsatisfactory, he figured out the vibe for the next album: "I have this passionate desire to sort of explore space ... [as opposed to] compounding everything into these driving parts.

[12] He rediscovered the material he had written for his previous bands Further Seems Forever and The Vacant Andies, and decided to write tracks that combined elements from them and Dashboard.

[12] Sessions also took place at NRG, Avatar, Pilot, Mission Sound, Quad Studios, The Loft and La Bella Vista.

Mark Kiczula acted as the main engineer with assistance from Jim Keller, Chad Lupo, Guiliano Baglioni, Roberto Fulps and Matt Shane.

[15] Carrabba experimented with a variety of instruments from mandolins to metal flowers pots that substituted as drums.

[17] Lanois left the project; Carrabba wanted to record another track, at which point Gilmore was brought in.

[15] Marsh said that due to the structure of the songs and melodies, the recording process give him a "great opportunity to create space.

He was aided by Pro Tools engineer John O'Mahony and assisted by Mike Scielzi, Paul Suarez ad Jan Petrov.

[25] The song arrangements build on the rock sound of A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar[26] and Carrabba's former band Further Seems Forever,[27] incorporating more piano and violin parts,[28] recalling the work of Coldplay and Journey.

[22] "Dusk and Summer" was written at the eleventh hour and summarised all of the parts of the album;[18] it recalled the group's earlier material.

[22] "Heaven Here" wasn't intended for inclusion on the record until Lanois heard it and convinced Carrabba to write lyrics for it.

[34] Around this time, a music video was filmed for "Don't Wait" in California with director Rich Lee.

[41] Dusk and Summer was made available for streaming via AOL on June 26, 2006, before being released a day later through Vagrant Records.

[46] On December 11, 2006, the band appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien; they also featured on Loaded on February 7, 2007.