After releasing three successful albums in the early 2000s - Mer de Noms (2000), Thirteenth Step (2003), and Emotive (2004), the band went on hiatus while Keenan focused on his other projects, Puscifer and Tool.

Upon A Perfect Circle's reformation in 2010, Howerdel had noted that he had been writing and demoing new material and presenting it to Keenan for his thoughts; song ideas Keenan liked were put into consideration for A Perfect Circle, while ideas he wasn't interested in was kept for Howerdel's solo work.

However, he also noted that he was "Still working on finishing vocals and writing lyrics", with the goal of wrapping up and mixing the album in early 2013.

[11] For years after, Howerdel would be quiet about the project as he turned his focus on the also-slow development of A Perfect Circle's fourth album, Eat the Elephant, which was released in 2018.

"[12] In 2018, Howerdel reiterated his plans to use the Ashes Divide name; but noted further changes in the material since that some songs he had been working on ended up being Eat the Elephant tracks instead, notably their last single from the album, "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish".

[4] Two dates on the tour will be with Puscifer, the side-project by A Perfect Circle band member Maynard James Keenan.