On 14 October 2016, guitarist Duncan Lloyd announced that recording was almost complete on the band's sixth album, then untitled.

The album was produced by Tom Schick, whose previous work includes Wilco, Beck and White Denim and was recorded entirely live.

[10] The album was released in several formats, including deluxe CD and digital editions, transparent vinyl and on tape cassette.

The latter video was edited by media company Caviar; profits from digital sales of the single were donated to charity.

Accompanying some release bundles was a zine entitled Inspiration Information, which made explicit the political nature of the album's lyrics, which heavily reference and comment upon the United Kingdom government austerity programme, its relation to the British class system, and the backlash against the ongoing European migrant crisis which was seen by critics including Smith as dehumanising.