Zach Phillips & Olia Eichenbaum met online in late 2018 and quickly began collaborating remotely, and in France and Brooklyn. First working together under the name the Pearly Gates, they toured western Europe together in 2019 with a common band shared between Olia's project Œ & Zach and Ma Clément's group Fievel Is Glauque. After taking a year off, it was during the early months of the pandemic that they started sending music and lyrics back and forth. Before they knew it, the entire Perfect Angels album was written and recorded in under a month, with Olia & guests' remote overdubs taking a bit more time. It was recorded entirely to Tascam 388 1/4" 8-track tape with computers intervening only during guest overdubs, mixing & mastering.