Monsters of Folk was an American supergroup, consisting of Jim James from My Morning Jacket, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis from Bright Eyes, Will Johnson from Centro-matic and M. Ward, solo artist and half of She & Him. The band was formed in 2004 when the members were on tour with their respective bands and solo projects. After playing together both on-stage and backstage, they started working together on various material. Due to the members' main projects, Monsters of Folk did not finish their first album until 2009, and the self-titled album was released on September 22 on Rough Trade. It debuted at No. 143 on the Billboard 200 and peaked at 15. It also reached No. 3 on Top Independent Albums, No. 8 on Top Rock Albums, No. 7 on Top Digital Albums, and No. 6 on Top Alternative Albums.

Matthew Stephen "M." Ward is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Glendale, California. Ward's solo work is a mixture of folk and blues-inspired Americana analog recordings. He has released 10 studio albums since 1999, primarily through the independent label Merge Records. In addition to his solo work, he is a member of indie pop duo She & Him and folk-rock supergroup Monsters of Folk, and also participates in recording, producing, and playing with multiple other artists.