Sons and Daughters played bass. Other instruments, such as drums, violin and organs, were played by Andy Cutting, David Gow, McCusker, Michael McGoldrick and Donald Shaw. Aiding Woomble on vocals, Angus, Dave Burland, Jones, Polwart and Kate Rusby sung on various tracks across the album. AllMusic reviewer Tim DiGravina said the album had two sides to it: the "pensive, brittle ballads", such as "I Came In from the Mountain" and "If I Could Name Any Name", while "on the other hand midtempo to urgent storming tracks indistinguishable from Idlewild fare other than the presence of fiddles and folksy percussion in the place of electric guitars and distortion pedals". "I Came In from the Mountain" began as a more up-tempo song until Carr's guitar part altered its direction. McCusker said the first take of the song was the version they ended up using. With "As Still as I Watch Your Grave", Woomble said they attempted to evoke the work of Fairport Convention and Liege & Lief (1969), as it was a favourite of Woomble's, while its chorus sections were in the style of Idlewild. Jones said it started as an Idlewild song, only to be changed by the other musicians involved during the making of the album. "Every Line of a Long Moment" is about dreaming about islands while living in a city. "My Secret Is My Silence" has Woomble singing about his way home; him and McCusker were listening to the work of the Band while writing it, with Woomble picking lines from his notebooks. Woomble said "Act IV" and "From the Drifter to the Drake" were "real band effort[s]" that were written in the studio. "If I Could Name Any Name" was one of a few songs that Woomble and Polwart had written at the latter's residence. Woomble thought it had a "nice Cat Stevens feel about it", and said he had the movie Harold and Maude (1971) when coming up with it. "Whiskeyface" is an instrumental that Woomble was initially as to where it would be placed on the album.. They had recorded it late during one evening after consuming beer and wine. Discussing the title of "Waverley Steps", Woomble said it referred to a flight of stairs leading to Waverley railway station in Edinburgh, Scotland. He mentioned that it dealt with people making connections to locations and how those connections remain despite changes one goes through. Woomble