Both celebrated songwriters on their own, Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst came together to form Better Oblivion Community Center, keeping the project under wraps until they surprised fans with a full-length at the beginning of 2019. In the days leading up to the release of the self-titled album, which comprised the duo's melancholic, narrative indie songs, Bridgers shared a phone number that brought fans to an eerie pre-recorded message.

Bridgers and Oberst had been friends prior to the formation of Better Oblivion Community Center, and had even collaborated before. Oberst, long famous for his wordy and heart-wrenching songs as Bright Eyes, among other projects, sang on a track for Bridgers' 2017 debut album, A Stranger in the Alps. Though Bridgers had a full schedule with her successful solo music as well as her supergroup Boygenius with Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, she and Oberst found time to meet up in L.A. for writing and clandestine recording sessions that led to their new project. The songwriters enlisted a host of friends to back them up on the recordings, including guitar work from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner, bass from Anna Butterss, as well as contributions from Dawes' members Wylie Gelber and Griffin Goldsmith. The album was released in January 2019, preceded by a debut live television performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert the night before its release. A lengthy international tour was planned in support of the album. Later that year, they released the single "Little Trouble," which was backed by an alternate, more electronic reading of album cut "Sleepwalkin'." ~ Fred Thomas, Rovi