Following the bare acoustic settings of Days in the Wake (Palace Brothers),
Will Oldham enlisted a full band to record his strongest group of songs yet. Anyone who thought the narrator of Days had been drawing on personal experience might have been amused, frightened, and somewhat concerned for his well-being. The album sounded like it was recorded in isolation. The fragile quality of Oldham's voice, which continually cracks and wavers around notes, only added to these impressions.