One of the most important families in British folk-rock comes together as Thompson, in which the extended family of Richard Linda Thompson unite in the recording studio for the first time. Richard Thompson was one of the founding members of the pioneering U.K. folk-rock band Fairport Convention and had recently launched a solo career when he married Linda Peters, a talented folksinger who had worked with Nick Drake and Sandy Denny, in October 1972. The couple began making music together, and Richard Linda Thompson would release six albums between 1974 and 1982. However, their relationship was failing when the Thompsons recorded their final album, 1982's Shoot Out the Lights; as fate would have it, the album was acclaimed by critics, and became their best-selling work in the United States, leading to a short American tour that only reinforced their differences and made clear their professional relationship was over as well as their marriage.

Both Richard and Linda soon remarried, and Richard promptly launched a long and prolific solo career. In 1985, Linda Thompson released a solo album, One Clear Moment, which received kind reviews and modest sales, but several years later, she was diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia, a condition that causes unpredictable spasms of the larynx, and prevented her from singing and effectively halted her musical career. Meanwhile, two of Richard Linda's three children, Teddy Thompson and Kami Thompson, would both launch careers in music; Teddy released his first solo album in 2000, as well as working with Rufus Wainwright, Shawn Colvin, and Marianne Faithfull, and occasionally touring with his father, while Kami released a solo album, Love Lies, in 2011, and also sings and plays guitar with the Rails.

In 2002, Linda Thompson's voice had recovered to the point that she recorded a new album, Fashionably Late, with Teddy helping to write several songs; Richard also played guitar on one song, and Teddy and Kami were part of Linda's backing band for a short U.S. tour to promote the release. Linda issued a third solo album, Versatile Heart, in 2007, with Teddy and Kami both helping with the sessions, and on 2013's Won't Be Long Now, Linda harmonized with Teddy and Kami as well as Muna Thompson Mascolo, Richard Linda's oldest child.

In 2013, Teddy struck upon the idea of having the family come together to make a collaborative album, with Richard, Linda, Kami, and Teddy each contributing two original songs. Richard, Linda, and Kami all agreed to participate, and Jack Thompson (Richard's son with his second wife, Nancy Covey) and Zak Hobbs (Muna's son and Richard Linda's grandson) also brought in one song each as well as serving as backing musicians; Kami's husband and Rails bandmate James Walbourne also contributed guitar to the project. After each family member turned in original recordings of their songs, Teddy (who served as producer) coordinated sessions in London and Los Angeles, where various members of the extended Thompson clan added instrumental overdubs, and Teddy completed the final mix. The finished album, credited to the collective name Thompson, was fittingly called Family, and was released in November 2014. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi