Spirit is described as "electro-oriented club music married with emo rock"; produced by Advanced Alternative Media, the album is noted as "their first collaboration with a Japanese artist".

[2] Looking to expand her sound, Hitomi largely worked with Western record producers Scott Cutler, Anne Preven and Dreamlab.

Spirit features contributions from Gabe Saporta of Cobra Starship, Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, and members from Simple Plan.

Two weeks prior to the release of Spirit, various media outlets publicized Hitomi's departure from Avex Trax to a then-unnamed independent label.

[3] The announcement of her new album and its April 27, 2011, release date accompanied these reports, though no further details were communicated from Hitomi or her management's side.