Named after an in-joke that referenced metalcore/emo group As I Lay Dying, A Grave With No Name is the musical brainchild of London-based musician Alex Shields. The project began in 2006 and was influenced by the lo-fi '90s indie aesthetic of bands such as Pavement and Sebadoh - as well as being associated with the late-2000s shoegaze or "nu gaze" revival alongside Banjo or Freakout, Atlas Sound, Trailer Trash Traceys, the Big Pink, and the xx. Shields recorded half of his 2009 debut, Mountain Debris, in a church in Stoke Newington, East London. For what had originally begun as a solo studio bedroom effort, Shields recruited bassist Tom King and guitarist Anupa Madawela to flesh out A Grave With No Name's woozy and ethereal pop. Incorporating spiky guitar melodies with gurgling aquatic sound effects, the resulting hazy and kaleidoscopic sound is comparable to My Bloody Valentine, Guided by Voices, and the Microphones.