The single was shortly followed by the release of the band's fifth studio album Young Modern on 31 March 2007.

Unlike the songs written during Diorama, when Daniel Johns wrote all the tracks himself, "Straight Lines" was co-written by the Presets' Julian Hamilton.

"Straight Lines" was awarded a double-platinum certification by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) on 2 September 2007, indicating combined digital and physical single sales of 140,000 units in Australia.

In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Straight Lines" was ranked number 74.

[3] The music video for the song features a dynamic band performance, and was filmed at the Olympic Park railway station, Sydney, by directors Paul Goldman and Alice Bell (the pair behind the film Suburban Mayhem).