Guitarist and producer Kevin Shields spent nearly three years crafting My Bloody Valentine's 1991 album Loveless, a process so gruelling that it became notorious in music folklore and, according to Creation Records boss Alan McGee, contributed to the label's near-financial collapse and his own "personal meltdown". Central to the record's reputation is Shields's painstaking studio experimentation, particularly on opening track and second single 'Only Shallow', which paired disorienting layered vocals from Bilinda Butcher with Shields's pioneering "glide guitar" technique.

The glide effect came from Shields's unconventional use of his Fender's tremolo arm, which he taped to restrict its movement so subtle strumming adjustments altered the guitar's pitch in a controlled way, an approach he detailed in a 2018 interview with Sound on Sound. He noted that many guitarists who tried to replicate the sound failed because they used a standard Jazzmaster tremolo setup rather than his customised configuration. The song's jet-engine-like riff emerged from further experimentation, alternating between a 1960s Burman amplifier and a Fender Showman amp.