Plum was recorded in the Catskill Mountains in the winter of 2019,[1] and was preceded by four singles: "Breadwinner" in May 2020, "Money" in June, "Plum" in July, and "Even True Love" in August.

[2] Metacritic summarised the critical response to Plum as "generally favorable.

"[3] Todd Dedman of Beats Per Minute wrote that Widowspeak's "sound remains a woozy delight, but with a more direct and purposeful feel to it," but felt that the title track is one of the weakest on the album.

[5] Loud and Quiet wrote: "there's a rumbling, phantom thread in the strata of Plum that elevates their fifth effort to a vantage point above their previous releases," and compared Hamilton's vocals to Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star.

[6] In a review for Pitchfork, Julia Gray wrote that Plum "doesn’t take enough risks to really widen Widowspeak's scope.