The album was influenced by a spiritually intense period in Krell's life, as well as his renewed interest in experimental electronic music with abrasive and atmospheric textures that he had explored at the beginning of his career.

Krell initially conceptualized The Anteroom when he relocated to Los Angeles after the United States 2016 election, and intended it as a "testament" to a two-year spiritually exploratory and intense period in his life that followed where he "felt [himself] slipping out of the world and into a cosmic loneliness in which [he] would eventually be dissolved".

Fuji," Dambudzo Marechera, Vatican Shadow, Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures, Alec Empire, Akira Rabelais, Frank Bidart, Basic Channel, Ocean Vuong, Silvia Federici, Maggie Nelson, Alejandra Pizarnik, demonic negative transcendence, the end of life on the earth: How to Dress Well presents The Anteroom.

[14] They also developed a technique known as "Incomplete Picture", an analogy for their gradually reductive production process and tendencies to engage in minimalism, creating "openness for the listening act".

[15] The album also lyrically addresses elements of Krell's own personal life, emphasized the most on "Nonkilling 6 | Hunger", "July 13 No Hope No Pain", and "Love Means Taking Action".