Sarah had previously only written instrumental music and arrangements up until this point, often favouring interpreting others' lyrics or working with traditional songs. "I've always loved words but had never thought I could be a lyricist", she says. However, when she sent Peter some songs she had written, the initial plan of working together in the capacity of him producing her soon evolved into a new band being formed. They spoke about a shared love of artists such as The Blue Nile, Jon Brion, Rufus Wainwright, Tortoise and Randy Newman and got to work.