The two earliest songs, "Shot by Both Sides" and "The Light Pours Out of Me", were co-written with Devoto's former Buzzcocks bandmate Pete Shelley.

The majority of the material on the album was written by Devoto in collaboration with guitarist and founding member John McGeoch.

In early January 1978, Dickinson was invited by Devoto to play for a few gigs but he declined the offer due to his ongoing postgraduate electronic music research at Keele University.

The music for the album's final track, "Parade", was written by Dickinson's replacement, Dave Formula, with bassist Barry Adamson.

Having toured much of the album through 1977 and early 1978, the group's then lineup of Devoto (vocals), McGeoch (guitar and saxophone), Adamson (bass), Formula (keyboards) and Martin Jackson (drums) recorded the album in sessions using the Virgin Mobile and at Abbey Road Studios between March and April 1978.

On its release, Jon Savage said in Sounds: "A commercial, quality rock album then, with deceptive depths.