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Newsom met Parks in Los Angeles on Bill Callahan's suggestion and played him the songs in a motel room. Albini recorded her harp and voice at The Village in December 2005, using four small Crown microphones on the harp and working through five tape machines before one behaved. Tim Boyle recorded the orchestra at Entourage in May and June 2006, and O'Rourke mixed to tape at Sear Sound in July, trimming some of Parks's writing to keep the songs intimate. Parks wanted electric bass and guitar, a point of friction, and brought in Leland Sklar and Grant Geissman anyway. Nick Webb mastered it at Abbey Road. Benjamin A. Vierling painted the cover.

It reached 134 on the Billboard 200, 5 on the US independent chart and 41 in the UK. Metacritic scores it 85. The Guardian's Alexis Petridis gave it five stars and Slant called it a masterpiece, while Rolling Stone found it hard to stomach. Pitchfork ranked it 83rd among the albums of the 2000s, and it is in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Daniel Radcliffe chose Emily on Desert Island Discs in 2020.