Best known for co-fronting New England indie rock favorites New Radiant Storm King, Matt Hunter helped lead the Massachusetts-based noise pop band to cult status in the '90s and early 2000s before launching a solo career. Originating out of the same Amherst scene that produced contemporaries Sebadoh and Dinosaur Jr., Hunter and singer/bassist Peyton Pinkerton made up a songwriting team that pitted a rich melodic sense against wild, noisy textures, reaching critical peaks with mid-'90s albums like August Revital and Hurricane Necklace. The thoughtful jangle pop that often marked Hunter's compositions for the band were further emphasized on his first solo outing, New Rotations, released in 2017.

In 1990, while attending Hampshire College, Hunter joined Pinkerton, guitarist Eli Miller, and drummer Elizabeth Sharp to form the original lineup of New Radiant Storm King. Over the course of their career, the band's lineup would shift a number of times, with Hunter and Pinkerton remaining at the helm. They also endured a series of label traumas, especially at the beginning of their career when their first two labels, Rough Trade and Axis, both folded, the former taking their unreleased debut with them. Hunter relocated to New York in the mid-'90s, though he and Pinkerton managed a significant amount of quality output through the rest of the decade and into the 2000s. During these years, Hunter also played with Silver Jews and toured with the Wharton Tiers Ensemble. Following 2002's highly regarded Winter's Kill, New Radiant Storm King recorded two more LPs for the Darla label before calling it quits in 2010.

Around this time, Hunter met his wife, musician D.W. Box, with whom he also became involved musically. Initially reluctant to make a solo album, he continued to record songs at home in between other projects and was encouraged by his band's previous label, Darla, to complete what eventually became New Rotations. Both he and his wife signed with Darla and simultaneously released their individual solo records in mid-2017. "Everybody Leaves" was later included on the compilation Little Darla Has a Treat for You, Vol. 30: Summer 2020. ~ Timothy Monger, Rovi