[4] Work on Newtown started several months after their first live concert in April 2013, as the members created ideas and discussed what they wanted to do together as Folks.

[6] It was the first song he worked on after leaving Galileo Galilei, and expressed the sort of music he wanted to create.

[5]"Everything Is Alone" was described as having an "updated funk sound" by Fumito Iwai, and was a mix of everything the band members wanted to express in a song.

[5] After Newtown was recorded, Fumito Iwai and Yoshitomo Kobayash went to Tokyo to oversee its mixing.

[4] The title Newtown refers to the planned community of Megumino in Eniwa, which is a motif of the release.

[7] The cover and artist promotional photos were taken in Eniwa by the photographer Yoshiharu Ota, as well as the music video for "Everything Is Alone".

was impressed with the "overseas resonance" of the band, likening Folks to indie rock musicians like Passion Pit and Mumford and Sons, as well as having the approach of James Blake.

[19] Saori Kishiba, a reviewer for Skream!, likened the band to Animal Collective and Arcade Fire, praising the "dreamy pop sound" and polished arrangements of songs on Newtown.

The reviewers praised the "beauty of fusion" in the album's "pleasant songs", and wrote that their harmonies "reminded you of an aurora".