As touring in promotion for their second studio album You See Colours wrapped up in 2006, the band decamped to Space Mountain in Spain with producer Martin "Youth" Glover to work on its follow up.

[3][4][5] Sessions for the follow-up were held at Space Mountain in Sierra Nevada, Spain, with Martin "Youth" Glover producing and Clive Goddard handling recording; the pair were assisted by Joel Cormack.

[6][8] Discussing the short turnover time, Aaron Gilbert said the band "didn't want to spend 2 days working on a guitar solo or something like that", avoiding the overanalysing that they did for You See Colours.

[6] Musically, the sound of Everything's the Rush has been described as indie pop, harking back to form of their debut studio album Faded Seaside Glamour (2004), with addition of orchestral elements.

[11][12] Fiona McKinlay of musicOMH said the synthesizer work on You See Colours are "now acting more like a (jolly good) support system for a sunnier band" on Everything's the Rush.

Warren Zielinski, Peter Lale, Tony Pleeth and Chris Laurence served as the principals of their respective sections (violin, viola, cello and double bass).

[11] The Muse-lite progressive rock of "Friends Are False" recalled the band's own "Stay Where You Are", found on Faded Seaside Glamour, and is followed by the indie disco of "No Contest".

[35] AllMusic reviewer Jon O'Brien saw the album as the band's "most cinematic to date", which sidesteps the majority of their "mid-noughties contemporaries' recent offerings".

[11] Kai Jones of Gigwise was highly critical, stating that that album was "so over-laden with giddy, flowery choruses and bouncy Monkees-style verses that the Delays are in danger of turning into a Take That full of Mark Owen".

[37] The Independent music critic Andy Gill wrote that by using Youth, the "already bombastic performances are further expanded with an inflated self-regard that either overwhelms or irritates, depending on one's tolerance".

Music writer Jaime Gill, however, criticized Youth's "overbearing production", as "[p]ractically every track comes complete with a distracting and tricksy intro".

[14] Dave Simpson of The Guardian wrote that Greg Gilbert's voice "sound[s] more road-scuffed than before, though this doesn't prevent things occasionally getting too gooey".

[11] Bournemouth Daily Echo writer Lisa Willmot said that the band's "perfect harmonies are still there", while Gilbert's voice "make the record a little quirkier and rougher around the edges".