Side two of the LP consists of four tracks built around extracts from a Massacre concert at CBGB in New York City in April 1980: "A Spit in the Ocean", "Navajo" and "Saving Grace" were later altered and added to by Frith at Sunrise Studios in July and August 1980, while "Conversations With White Arc" is an unaltered improvised piece.

Recordings were also made while visiting friends: the title song's rhythm track is provided by a malfunctioning water pipe in Tim Hodgkinson's kitchen.

"[10] This notion came to him when he once tried to listen to a recording of an interview he had done, and the cassette machine played back both sides of the tape at the same time, one of them backwards, rendering the words unintelligible.

[10] Andrew Jones wrote in Plunderphonics, 'pataphysics & pop mechanics: an introduction to musique actuelle that Speechless is "ultimately about being unable to articulate the words that once flowed freely.

"[11] Speechless is an instrumental album that includes elements of folk music, free improvisation, avant-rock and noise, plus field recordings and tape manipulation.

[1] The tracks on the album vary from folk and melodic pieces (including the waltz ballad "Domaine de Planousset"), to noisy avant-rock ("A Spit in the Ocean"), to layered sound collages ("Speechless").

Glenn Astarita at Jazz Review said that the listener can expect "the unexpected, amid pounding backbeats, variable rhythmic flows, and multihued soundscapes.

"[8] Glenn Astarita at Jazz Review said the album was "highly recommended", adding that "Frith’s off-kilter methodologies translate into a fun-filled production, awash with a cartoon-like rationale.