The album was recorded in a century-old house (either named or later dubbed 15 Ontario) apparently bound for destruction. From the liner notes: "your bulldozers and wrecking ball can make match-sticks out of the rickety staircase and crookt/creaking floorboards---but they can't erase the recording that was made here." As such, several sounds usually edited out of the recording process, including creaking floors, paper shuffling and outside noises, were left intact on the final album. The most notable occurrence is that of a police car driving by with its siren blaring at the end of "Love Song for 15 Ontario"; the vehicle was later credited as a guest performer on the song.
An underlying concept in the work is the "Lying Dying Wonder Body", which consists of spoken word passages dealing with theoretical and political concepts that concern global climate and love.