[2] Produced by guitarist, songwriter and musical director Omar Rodríguez-López, the album was preceded by the singles "Blacklight Shine", "Graveyard Love" and "Vigil".

[5] Jazz pianist Leo Genovese contributed to the recording process, eventually joining the band on a full-time basis for the album's accompanying tour, alongside new drummer Linda-Philomène Tsoungui.

[6] In late 2012, following the release of the Mars Volta's sixth studio album, Noctourniquet, core members Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals) and Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, production) disbanded the group after a falling out between the pair.

[4] Within two years of the falling-out, the pair had reconciled, subsequently forming the supergroup Antemasque and working on the At the Drive-In album, In•ter a•li•a (2017), before regrouping as the Mars Volta in secret in 2019.

[3] Upon reuniting the Mars Volta in secret in 2019, Rodríguez-López made a conscious decision not to return to the band's progressive rock sound on any new recordings.

"[7] Writing melodies in keeping with guitarist and musical director Rodríguez-López's pop-based aesthetic, vocalist and lyricist Bixler-Zavala was influenced by David Bowie, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel and Paul Weller, whose careers often transitioned from experimental work to mainstream success: "I'm looking for that gray area where it's just starting to be pop, but their old selves are still there.

"[7] On Weller's influence in particular, Bixler-Zavala described The Mars Volta as the band's "Style Council moment",[4] referring to Weller's decision to pivot genres following the break-up of The Jam: "Quite frankly, a lot of [fans of The Jam] needed to have the Style Council put in front of them, just to show them that you can't be stuck in a genre.

"[4] Bixler-Zavala's lyrics were directly influenced by his wife Chrissie Carnell Bixler's legal battles with the actor Danny Masterson and the Church of Scientology, with Carnell Bixler and three other women accusing Masterson of rape and the Church of Scientology with "stalking, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress".

[7] As a result of the personal subject matter and overall shift in musical style, Bixler-Zavala consciously wrote lyrics that were less cryptic than the band's previous material: "In these songs, there are more direct expressions of what you're supposed to be feeling.

Ward died of an apparent heroin overdose on May 25, 2003, just months before the release of the band's debut album, De-Loused in the Comatorium.

"[16] In a review for AllMusic, Timothy Monger mentioned that "the veteran band sound confident and invigorated, adding another surprising chapter to a consistently eclectic career.

"[12] At NME, Andy Price declared that "This isn't just a striking return for one of the most individual bands of the last 20 years; it is, musically, an astounding masterpiece.

"[17] Reception for the album was more subdued in the review for Pitchfork by Matthew Ismael Ruiz, who stated that, "The previous iteration of the band thrived at the border of brilliant and unhinged, and The Mars Volta is too conventional to be called their best work.