The Cure's early 1980s output, particularly the 1981 album Faith, proved so relentlessly bleak that co-producer Mike Hedges refused to work with the band again afterwards, saying the sessions left him "on the verge of a nervous breakdown." This period marked a stark contrast to the band's later, poppier image, cementing their reputation as post-punk arch-miserablists during a trilogy of albums that included Seventeen Seconds and Pornography either side of Faith.

Hedges had previously produced 1980's Seventeen Seconds, which yielded the single "A Forest," without issue, but found Faith's introspective and depressing atmosphere overwhelming, later telling Sound on Sound in 2004 that the recording process was "bloody miserable" despite the band not fighting. Frontman Robert Smith's cathartic emotional outpouring on the record affected the whole studio, and the mood also contributed to keyboardist Matthieu Hartley's departure after the 1980 tour. Despite its grim tone, Faith became The Cure's highest-charting album at the time, reaching number 14, before Smith made an abrupt pivot towards pop with "Let's Go to Bed" the following year.