The record is the soundtrack to his documentary film of the same name. Lanois describes the film as a travelogue of his life, and it is focused on the creation of these songs. Previously orphaned songs with merely a hook, rhythm or a few lines of verse. The film follows Lanois in his collaborations with many of the artists that he built his name with, including U2, Willie Nelson, Aaron Neville and frequent partner Brian Eno.

The tracks are interspersed with bits of dialogue from the documentary; mostly comments that help answer the question of, "Why are we making this movie?" The songs are beautifully atmospheric. Exactly what you would expect from Lanois. Several actually could not be labeled as songs, just gorgeous melodies, such as the duo of "Blue Bus" and "Lovechild".

Lanois' diversity is marked by a searing "This May Be the Last Time" led by Brian Blade's father and his Zion Baptist Church choir from Shreveport, LA.

The album calls to several points in his past – ambient sounds, pedal steel guitar and the ache in his vocals. His pedal steel playing is particularly outstanding on "Sacred and Secular", like blues from another dimension.