Righteous Babe Records' website notes that only DiFranco's bassist Todd Sickafoose, who had accompanied her on her recent tours, would be performing on the album.

The album has a dark, mournful, mellow sound reminiscent of 1999's To the Teeth and 2004's Educated Guess and features experimental arrangements with synthesizers, electronics and tape manipulation.

"[9] Billboard also gave the album a positive review and said it was "more languid than earlier efforts without sacrificing the urgency of [DiFranco's] patented guitar pluck-strum.

Online gave it a B− and called it "an arresting mix of the singer's political and personal strife set to a jazzy backbeat.

It said of DiFranco: "Subtle sounds – acoustic instruments, electronic tones, environmental noises, distorted echoes – well up around her, and they open pockets of shadow around her usual pinpoint clarity.