Even with all the praise her debut album, Before We Forgot How to Dream, received, SOAK couldn't help but feel she had room to improve. "I know when I've done something that I think is worthy," she explained to Evening Standard in May 2019. "But I also know when I've done something that has received niceness but hasn't deserved it. My first record — it's nice, it's cool, I'm not gonna say, 'Take these awards back!' But when it was released I did think, 'I could write better than this.'"