The album was produced by Shawn Everett (Weezer, Alabama Shakes, Julian Casablancas), who also helped engineer and mix the group's 2013 debut, Wildewoman. Co-frontwoman Jess Wolfe said Lucius wrote and recorded Good Grief after two years on the road in support of Wildewoman.
"We had just returned from tour, having gone through such varied emotions — loneliness, sadness and exhaustion alongside excitement, fulfillment and some of the most joyful moments in our lives," Wolfe added in a statement. "Whenever one of us had an idea or a feeling, the other was already a witness to it and could help navigate through it — for the two of us, this usually came in song form."