Editors formed in 2003 during the emergence of the post-punk revival under than name Snowfield; the band consisted of Tom Smith on vocals and guitar, Chris Urbanowicz on guitar, Russel Leetch on bass and Ed Lay on drums. The members met in 2000 at Staffordshire University and ended up living together. Urbanowicz said he had grown tired of guitar-centric music following Britpop and that the members bonded over their love of Is This It (2001) by The Strokes and Asleep in the Back (2001) by Elbow.
They could all play instruments and shared similar music tastes so they decided to form a band. They were co-students on a music technology course, which allowed them to use practice rooms and recording studios. After graduating, the band members moved to Birmingham, where they earned money to pay rent and worked on the band. They performed at club shows and recorded demos, and later attracted British record labels.
In early 2005, the band took a five-week break from touring to record what became their debut studio album, though Smith said it was recorded in around three and a half weeks. Most of the album was recorded at The Chapel, a studio in Lincolnshire, with producer Jim Abbiss, who handled recording alongside Ewan Davis.
The sound of The Back Room has been described as post-punk revival, gothic rock and indie pop, and was compared to the work of Echo & the Bunnymen particularly their album Heaven Up Here (1981) Interpol and their album Antics (2004), and the works of Elbow. Urbanowicz disregarded some of these comparisons, saying Editors' material had already been written before they had "really listened to any of those bands properly". He credited Editors' choice of music to the Walkmen, to whose music they incessantly listened. Smith said, in comparison to their live setting, the album has synthesisers, which give it a dark electronic nuance. The Back Room is characterised by thick, prominent basslines, insistent drums, twinkling guitar and a baritone voice. Starting with "Camera", synthesisers take a prominent role in the album's second half. Urbanowicz attributed the album's aggressive tone to when they were living together and working jobs. The title is taken from a line in "Camera"; Smith considered it the "centre piece" of the album and said while death, love and loss are recurring themes on the album, he intentionally kept the meaning of the songs ambiguous for the listener to interpret for themselves.
On "Lights", the album's opening track, the guitarwork switches from strummed jangling to single picked notes, which are enhanced by reverb, evoking the style of the Edge from U2. "Munich" follows the same pattern, and is backed by a drum pattern that resembles the one in "Evil" (2005) by Interpol, along with Smith and Urbanowicz's 'marching' guitars. The album's tempo slows for three of the songs, starting with "Fall". "All Sparks", the chorus of which is reminiscent of the work of Coldplay, is followed by "Camera", which evokes murder ballads of Bauhaus. "Fingers in the Factories", which talks about being working class, the vocals, guitars and drums synchronise for staccato notes. "Bullets", which recalls the early work of U2, refers to periods in a person's life when situations go awry, including the aftermath of a break-up and unemployment. "Open Your Arms" evokes "40'" (2004) by Franz Ferdinand. The album closes with "Distance", an Interpol-esque track.
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