During the promotional cycle for their third studio album The Invisible Invasion (2005), guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones left and subsequently re-joined the band.

Preceded by an appearance at Glastonbury Festival and a support slot in Europe for the Arctic Monkeys, "Who's Gonna Find Me" was released as the lead single on 30 July 2007.

"Cobwebs" and "Music at Night" were recorded at RAK Studios in London, with Broudie as producer, engineering from Phil Brown, who was assistance by Raj Das.

Several musicians added additional instrumentation to a few of the songs: flute by Martin Dunsdon for "Not So Lonely"; strings by Sally Herbert, Nicola Sweeney, Katherine Shave and Holdaway, and oboe by Matthew Draper on "Rebecca You"; strings by Brian Wright, Herbert, Jackie Norrie, Ellen Blair, Holdaway, and oboe by Draper and Leila Ward on "Music at Night".

[9] The blues rock and psychedelic folk song "Who's Gonna Find Me" opens the album, leading into "Remember Me", which talks about unrequited love.

[13][14] "Put the Sun Back is a Kinks-indebted song lamenting the loss of a loved one, and precedes "Jacqueline", a country-esque track in the style of Shack.

[18] "Not So Lonely" is an acoustic ballad in the vein of Scott Walker, with James Skelly crooning in a manner of Roy Orbison, and is followed by "Cobwebs", a country track akin to "Gentle on My Mind" (1967) by Glen Campbell.

[12][21] In March 2007, the Coral performed at a Teenage Cancer Trust benefit, where they debuted "Who's Gonna Find Me" and "Put the Sun Back".

[23] The band played three shows with the Arctic Monkeys in the UK later in the month, leading up to an appeared at the Glastonbury Festival, before supporting them on a tour of Europe.

[45] AllMusic reviewer Stewart Mason noted that the Coral's music in the preceding years has been "ignored by most folks outside of a devoted cult", and Roots & Echoes "isn't going to change that."

[10] Yahoo Music Radio writer Niall O'Keeffe said that the "mid-paced, melancholic guitar pop" which provides a firm base for Skelly's "ever-extraordinary vocals", with a "pleasantly dreamy, wistful atmosphere" throughout the album.

"[49] Drowned in Sound's Dom Gourlay wrote that a number of the band's "trademark eccentricities find themselves watered down and flushed out into over-sentimental ballad territory."

"[48] Pitchfork contributor Stuart Berman wrote that Skelly's "lyrical concerns [are] now entirely consumed by matters of romance and regret", which in some of the "more pedestrian turns", regularly "feels devoid of passionate intent".

[50] The Stranger writer Jonathan Zwickel said the album "offers a little to like, a little to shrug at", with the band showcasing "reliable talent, but, thanks to overfamiliarity, rarely rise above merely competent.

"[52] Sián Rowe of DIY said the band "don't even seem excited themselves", as the "ghostly backing vocals and plodding riffs" that the album displays.