[7] The songs that would end up on their next album were written in Paris, France, with Fray citing the film Victoria (2015) by Sebastian Schipper as the lyrical inspiration.

[11] Sessions were held in Real World Studios in Bath, and unnamed places in Loch Ness and Manchester, concluding in July 2016.

[12][15] "No One Will Ever Replace Us" deals with falling in love at Glastonbury Festival, as well as the "under-pinning fear about when you’ve got something so good, and you don’t want it to end".

[7] Sonia de Freitas of Renowned for Sound said "Not for Tomorrow" was "particularly exciting because of the contrasting styles they blend together, and the unexpected rhythmic stabs will get your heart ticking".

[12] The Phoenix-esqie "Modern Love" is the first time Fray had co-written a song with someone, in this case, with Adam Anderson and Theo Hutchcraft of Hurts.

[18] Anderson and Hutchcraft had sent a version of the song to Cross, which they were not satisfied with; after Fray heard it, he added guitar parts and altered some of its lyrics.

[9][19] Louder Than War referred to it as a "monstrously huge pop song that wraps itself around a keenly observed lyric about outsider culture and hedonistic escape".

[20] Following recording, the band supported the Stone Roses for a one-off show and appeared at the T in the Park and Reading and Leeds Festivals.

On 12 August 2016, Mapping the Rendezvous was announced for release in two months' time; the album's track listing was posted online.

[10] The following day, the band performed at home town show at the Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester to a crowd of 50,000, with support from the Charlatans, Blossoms and Cabbage.

[35] Yeung praised the band for melding "sonic touchstones from throughout their catalog" to create "one of their strongest works, as addictive as anything" on Concrete Love and their third studio album Anna (2013).

[12] Eamon Sweeney of Hot Press felt they "show the strongest signs yet of blossoming into a band who can be taken as seriously as their illustrious musical forefathers".

[37][39] The Independent's Andy Gill took this to be a negative, stating that the band are "still pretty much mired in Mancunian mores on this latest album".