The album explores themes of family grief, England, and the healing, communal power of music throughout a lifetime. Lyrically, the album is diaristic yet communal, existing in the haze of memory that often follows a loss. Musically, this is reflected sonically through analogue recordings, recurring cello motifs, nods to earlier Blood Orange projects, and various musical interpolations from Hynes' youth. Sonically, the album includes an array of arrangements and instruments like the acoustic guitar with a punk distortion and melodic ethereal tones that were woven into his dreams as a kid growing up in Essex, imagining his future. Essex Honey features contributions from The Durutti Column, Mustafa, Caroline Polachek, Daniel Caesar, Lorde, Zadie Smith, Tirzah, Brendan Yates (Turnstile), and Mabe Fratti.