Capaldi's second studio album, Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent, was released on 19 May 2023, with an extended edition being surprise-released on 1 January of the following year.

After some back-and-forth about whether or not it was the right thing to do, I’ve decided it would be a shame for these five extra songs, which are so incredibly special to me, to sit on my hard drive, never to see the light of day".

[4] The song was released on 5 January 2024, as the first single from the expanded edition of Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent.

[5] Writing in Billboard, Mitchell Peters said that "Strangers" "sees him stepping back into the familiar territory of his breakthrough hit single Someone You Loved", further claiming that Capaldi appears in a " balladry mode on Strangers".

[6] In the United Kingdom, "Strangers" peaked just within the Top 40 of the official UK Singles Charts, peaking at number thirty-seven and spent a total of four weeks within the Top 100 of the UK Singles Charts.