After Briana Marela released her first studio album in 2012, she booked herself a tour of DIY spaces across the US. At the time, Marela was on the one-man-operation label Bicycle Records and had been playing house shows around Olympia for about four years. This tour was in support of an ambient electro-folk album and her backing band was her sister. Marela's career path wasn't pointing toward fame, and it wasn't a tour designed to lure industry types or score a new record deal, but simply to share some songs, make some new friends, and take a road trip.

Halfway through the tour, Marela played an art gallery in Providence, Rhode Island, where one of the gallery's artists bought a copy of the album. He passed it along to his best friend, Sigur Rós producer Alex Somers, who quickly fell in love with its melding of electronic and acoustic sounds, and contacted the musician about working together on an album. Marela spent eight months sorting out logistics, putting together a Kickstarter, and taking out a loan. Having never been outside the US, she flew to Iceland to spend a month in the studio with Somers, whom she had never met in person.

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