The new tracks follow lead single "Run Down Small Town", and represent the two extremes of . On "Mistakes", the band lean into synth-pop as singer Declan Welsh addresses the trauma of a long-distance break-up.

“I love Chic and Nile Rogers, and I love Parcels," Welsh says of the track. "So, I have that more synth-poppy side as well as the funk and soul. I went through a break-up when we were away, mid-tour, which I don't recommend anyone ever does! But it's nice to exorcise some of the feelings. As a songwriter, you become a warped, weird person. When you feel very strongly, even if that feeling isn't positive, you're like: right, well, there's stuff here stuff here to be getting on with!”

"On Juan" leans into more intensity, taking inspiration from the likes of Biffy Clyro, as Welsh explains: “That song is about how it feels to be on the night out when you're up – and how it feels to be on the night out when it starts going wrong. You can't separate them.”

Both songs were recorded with producer Chris Marshall (Gerry Cinnamon, Dylan John Thomas, Callum Beattie) at Mogwai’s Castle of Doom Recording Studios in Glasgow. The three previews of the album so far are said to fuel Welsh's desire to "inspire and provoke, to enrage and engage" with the messages on .