The album was announced December 11, 2017, and was simultaneously received by many of the band's fans as a result of a "secret LP" placed for sale on their website months prior.

Lemuria have cited numerous bands as influences, including Jawbox, the Lemonheads, Superchunk, Leatherface, Thin Lizzy, Archers of Loaf,[2] Texas Is the Reason,[3] Fleetwood Mac, and Pixies.

[6] After a handful of shows, and the release of the (now rare) Lemuria demo, the group parted ways with Vernick, and in March 2005, Jason Draper stepped in to join on bass.

In July, 2010, Lemuria made another big change and went in to record their debut full length for the label with J. Robbins in Baltimore, MD at Magpie Cage.

[15] However, during the mixing process of this recording session, bassist and Canadian citizen Kyle Paton ran into legal issues at the American border and as a result had to part ways with the band.

[16] In order to perform a show scheduled for later that week, Lemuria added the new bass player Max Gregor, who flew from Texas and began rehearsing in the studio.

With the most consistent line-up in the band's career, Lemuria spent 2013 supporting "The Distance Is So Big" with shows across Canada and the U.S., including a week at Austin's SXSW festival.

2014 tours brought the band across the U.S. a few times, with a notable stop at Chicago's Riot Fest, and before crowds in Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The album was released in a unique way, summarized in this letter included with each order, and also posted on the band's website:"Thanks to everyone who took a gamble and purchased the "secret LP" we put up for sale back in August.

Your trust and subsequent purchase enabled us to achieve some great feats with this release, including working with the 4-time Grammy winning producer and engineer Chris Shaw.

We chose to work with him, in part, for his very eclectic discography, including the Weezer "Blue" album, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Ice Cube, Wilco, Public Enemy, Modest Mouse, A Tribe Called Quest, Ween and Lou Reed.

As a thank you, when we were planning the release for "Recreational Hate", we decided to go this secretive route once again in hopes that a similar investment from you would turn into an even bigger reward of a full-length studio album.These songs represent our next step forward.