In an interview with Relix, Dessner reveals that the album features members of Bon Iver, Vampire Weekend, Kurt Vile & The Violators, The Walkmen and The War on Drugs, saying: "We’ve done a lot of work talking to various artists and laying the groundwork. It is kind of an ambitious project, both because of the legacy and the material. We are obsessed enough with the Grateful Dead that it is kind of a monumental idea.”