The album was inspired by The Tibetan Book of the Dead, which outlines the spiritual path for those facing their first moments after their death. Each of the songs represents a part of this journey. The feel of these songs were created to be reflective and meditative of such a spiritual journey. As such, the songs cater to playlists and soundtracks that find their listeners in reflective or meditative moods such as studying, sleep or guitar based lo-fi playlists. To the Dead is markedly different from Gabriel's previous releases in that it is instrumental-based, and much more reflective. Many of his previous releases were heavily influenced by vocals, and there is only one song on this album that is dominated by vocals. Furthermore, it is different from other instrumental albums in that it offers a psychedelic feel through a sound collage effect of various sound bites and home-made clips. In this way, its influences feature a combination of lo-fi, guitar-based composition and classic sound collage tracks such as “Revolution 9” by The Beatles.