"In Ashe" was inspired by a landmark event in the history of workers’ rights, "Parish" confronts the U.S. government's failed response to Hurricane Katrina, and "Topple the Sky" deals with the 2009–2010 Iranian election protests.
Writing in the Brock Press, Marshal Hignett described The Hope Slide as "an astounding debut release which is bound to have a tremendous impact on the Canadian electronic scene in the future.
"[2] The British blog indie-mp3.co.uk noted that the duo's music is "not shoegaze in it’s classic sense but is more in line with the ambient electrical stuff put out by the likes of M83 and Ulrich Schnauss.
[4] The Hope Slide's members, Michaela Galloway (vocals, Moog) and John Lucas (guitar, bass, keyboards, beats), were formerly in Hinterland, a band that, through its eight-year, three-album run, consistently made the Canadian college-radio charts, performed all over the country (including on a nationally broadcast TV show), and generally built a cult following.
Whereas Hinterland was a five-piece rock band, however, the Hope Slide leans more toward the electronic end of things, albeit with all the moody dream-pop atmospherics for which Lucas and Galloway are known.