[2] Though Momus claimed in a 1995 interview with Kill Pearl Jam Dead that much of the album's lyrical content was similar to previous releases, he increasingly became interested in Japanese subjects, reflective of his collaborations with artists like Kahimi Karie and his newly-found popularity in Japan.

[1] The album frequently references figures in art and pop culture, including Jamaican record producer Lee "Scratch" Perry and Japanese eroticist Kuniyoshi Kaneko.

Track 19, "The Sadness of Things", was written by Momus with Ken Morioka, a member of Japanese electronic group Soft Ballet and frequent collaborator in the visual kei scene.

Melody Maker's Mark Luffman panned the album as "a jamboree bag of aphorisms", stating its "featherweight sheen" of music was overpowered by the "cod-philosophising" of Momus's lyrics.

British newspaper The Independent also gave a positive review, calling it "witty and always perfectly measured" and comparing the album's sound to Pet Shop Boys.