The album's themes were inspired by the death of Berman's mother, his retirement from music, his struggles with depression, and his strained relationship with his wife.

In a podcast interview with Vish Khanna in 2019, Berman said, "In that point, in 2008, a Pitchfork review really meant a lot [...] That really burned me for a long time.

"[11] Berman, who long suffered from treatment-resistant depression, said to Khanna, "There probably were a hundred nights over the last ten years where I was sure I wouldn't make it to the morning.

He eventually came back to the chord progression he had played and it became "I Loved Being My Mother's Son", the first song written for the album.

[31] From April to July 2017, Bejar and David Carswell set out to produce the album at JC/DC Studios in Vancouver, Canada.

[27] Berman's longtime friend Stephen Malkmus, the frontman of Pavement and a fellow founding member of Silver Jews, also worked in the studio for a few days.

[27][32] Black Mountain drummer Joshua Wells and bass player Colin Cowan also participated in the Vancouver sessions.

[37] Berman returned home to Nashville to re-write the album and eventually found his previous problems had "solved themselves.

Bejar also revealed that there are "halfway to final mixes of an album's worth of music" but that the decision to release them is up to Drag City.

"[27] On February 14, 2018, Valentine's Day, Berman separated from his wife and drove from Nashville to Miller Beach, a neighborhood of Gary, Indiana.

[11] He asked Earl and fellow Woods member Jarvis Taveniere, both of whom he had never spoken to before, to produce the album.

[43] The album also features contributions from Woods drummer Aaron Neveu and from singer-songwriter Anna St. Louis, who recorded her vocals in an hour during a mixing session in Los Angeles.

"Maybe I'm the Only One for Me" was intended as to be from an incel's perspective and was, in his eyes, the "ultimate neo-liberal love song, as we sit in a place of peak individualism".

[46] The album's lyrics are heavily inspired by Berman's lifetime struggle with depression and addiction and the circumstances of his life in the years preceding his death.

He had separated from his wife and told Vish Khanna, "I don't have any desire to be in a relationship with anyone else, and I do feel like I'm on the other side of my career of being a Lothario".

It credited Berman as well as Jeremy Earl, Jarvis Taveniere, and Aaron Neveu of Woods and songwriter Anna St.

[54] A remix of "All My Happiness Is Gone" by Australian electronic music group The Avalanches, who Berman has collaborated with in the past, was commissioned by him, but a licensing issue prevented their version from being released.

The tour was to feature opening acts Empty Country, Jeffrey Lewis, unmastered Masters, Diane Cluck with Isabel Castellvi, Country Westerns, State Champion, Bill MacKay, Axis: Sova, Xiao Yao, Lightning Dust, and Herman Dune.

[61] Berman had called the tour a "necessity" in order to pay down credit card debt and loans he built up.

[64] Ben Beaumont-Thomas of The Guardian gave the album a perfect score, writing, "Cries for help have rarely been so clear, self-aware, and funny.

[75] Brian Howe of Spin said, "The arrangements, some of the most gracious Berman's ever had, hum and glow with foggy organs and soft golden horns.

"[76] Chris DeVille of Stereogum called the album a "devastating self-portrait, delivered one bracingly literal observation at a time".

[77] Writing for The Wall Street Journal, Mark Richardson said that Berman's "lyrics remain idiosyncratic marvels of wrenching, wry hilarity" and "Purple Mountains [...] picks up where his earlier group left off.

The production is a bit more ornate and the songs reflect another decade of hard living, but this is a Silver Jews record in all but name, and a very good one.

"[78] Writing for Slate, Carl Wilson said, "The relative plainspokenness of Purple Mountains is a sign of a maturing craft, of not wanting to play evasive games.

"[68] In a less favorable review, Ludovic Hunter-Tilney of the Financial Times said, "Although his monotonous vocal style and a lack of musical variation prevent the album from really taking off, its movement towards consolation with the irresistible "Storyline Fever" feels like a deserved victory.

The lineup included The Hold Steady's Craig Finn, Ken Griffin (August Wells) and Silver Jews members Steve West and Matt Hunter.

[116] Also on the same day, Speedy Ortiz organized "Philly Remembers David Berman: A Birthday Tribute" at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia.

Berman would spend several years developing the song that became "Maybe I'm the Only One for Me", giving it a "jaunty country" sound and a "darker, more despondent" lyrical slant.