[1] Prior to recording the album, Sternberg had a series of "both professional and personal" setbacks, and they felt taken advantage of by the music industry, which prompted them to address their mental health issues and "quit substances".

[3] Sternberg recorded the album with producer Matt Sweeney and engineer Daniel Schlett at the Strange Weather studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

"[9] John Amen of The Line of Best Fit felt that "Sternberg elaborates on the approaches and themes of their debut", calling their "perceptions and narration [...] as complex as ever, brimming with pop-psych allusions and peppery doses of ambivalence and satire".

Amen concluded that "Sternberg's songs are readily accessible; then again, the talented musician and singer offers multilayered lyrics and works skillfully with vocal paradoxes".

"[8] AllMusic's Timothy Monger found that "the songs are sad, but also joyously robust and full of the conflicting emotions of simply being alive" and also stated that "Sternberg's quavering voice will not please everyone and their musical palette is delightfully out of step with the times, but their candor and warmth of character are universal.