The Anteroom was conceptualized when Krell relocated to Los Angeles after the United States 2016 election, and was created as a 'testament' to the two-year spiritually exploratory and intense period in his life that followed where he "felt slipping out of the world and into a cosmic loneliness in which would eventually be dissolved". With the album, he aimed to return to the experimental sounds of his early work, but more cohesive and detailed; the press release describes the album as a 'single continuous piece of 21st century psychedelic music'. The press release for The Anteroom described the album as utilizing 'blizzardous electronic noise, fragile melodies and poignant poetry', and compared the album to a weighted blanket. It also detailed the album's artistic and literary inspirations, citing:
Krell also published a Spotify playlist titled "The Anteroom Influences " which documented the album's overall musical influences, as well as songs he listened to before and after the production of the album. Artist and producer Joel Ford, who contributed to The Anteroom, was described as a 'technical facilitator' and a medium, and Krell admitted that his production on the album lead to his interest and passion for music being renewed, after a prior negative experience. Krell coped with 'super mangled emotions' through Ford's presence in the studio. They also developed the phrase "Incomplete Picture", which described their production process and tendencies to engage in minimalism and creating 'openness for the listening act'.
The Anteroom is stylistically radically different from Krell's prior album under How To Dress Well, "Care", which was focused strictly on contemporary R&B and synthpop. In comparison, The Anteroom focuses deeply on experimental electronic music, ambient music and post-industrial music with abstracted pop songwriting, which was described as ' sound experimentation'. Prior to the album's release, Krell addressed that he was 'no longer making music for the algorithm', and has called it his 'most sonically, biographically and conceptually detailed and intense record to date'. He also admitted that he 'got in such an intense space mentally', and that the final album was 'this kind of big, exquisite corpse of itself'. The album also lyrically addresses elements of Krell's own personal life, most emphasized on "Nonkilling 6 Hunger", "July 13 No Hope No Pain", and "Love Means Taking Action". The album features literary and poetic references; the title track, "The Anteroom", lyrically references Maggie Nelson's "Bluets" multiple times, "Nonkilling 6 Hunger" begins with a sample of Li-Young Lee's "The Cleaving", and "Brutal False Skull 5" uses vocal samples of poems by Ocean Vuong, Anne Sexton and Frank Bidart. Krell commented that 'the way write is very free associative', and that he 'had a canon of books was reading; over and over, books of poetry that were essential'; he compared himself to a channel for such works.
Album art
The album cover of The Anteroom, different for the CD and vinyl editions, was created by Krell in collaboration with artist and friend Joshua Clancy. The deluxe vinyl edition in particular features art created in a 'VR cave' on the Oculus Rift, which they described as a 'hyper-Lascaux at the end of the world'.
"Love Means Taking Action" interpolates "Love Means Taking Action" by Croatian Amor
"Brutal False Skull 5" samples "After Rapture" written and spoken by Ocean Vuong, elements of "Wanting To Die" written and spoken by Anne Sexton, and elements of "Valentine" written and spoken by Frank Bidart
