...And the Sky Fell

In January and February 2010, Pet Slimmers of the Year spent time at Jigsaw Studio in Market Deeping, Lincolnshire, recording five new songs with record producer Tom Savage.[4] The band had previously recorded with Savage at his studio numerous times, including the session that yielded its eponymous extended play, Pet Slimmers of the Year, in late 2008.[5]

The group was then a trio comprising bass guitarist Steve McKenna, drummer Dale Vinten, and guitarist Scott Gowan, the latter of which expanded his role by providing vocals for the first time on two songs: "Moravka" and "I Am the Ocean".[1][6] In an interview with The Sludgelord in 2012, the band described the introduction of vocals to its music as:

"Actually two of the tracks on ...And the Sky Fell feature some vocal lines. These are faint and prop the tracks up with a little extra melody. We intend to keep the balance of instrumentals and vocals at this level because it's how we like to hear things. We're never going to become a band with a front man."[6]

Pet Slimmers of the Year had composed and demoed eight to nine songs for the release during 2009, but only five were kept to fit within ...And the Sky Fell's concept and mood.[5] The band conceptualized ...And the Sky Fell around water and the ocean,[5][1] a theme it would continue to explore on its follow-up release, Fragments of Uniforms, which tells a story of being lost at sea.[7] One of the songs dropped from ...And the Sky Fell was named "Untitled" and later appeared on Abridged Pause Recordings' Various Artists compilation, Billowing Tempestus, in 2016 (originally planned for release in 2012).[5] When reflecting on the release's selection of songs with Abridged Pause Blog in 2016, Gowan explained:

"We wrote and recorded ["Untitled"] during the ...And the Sky Fell sessions. We had about eight or nine tracks that we thought were studio ready, but once they were recorded, we felt that a couple didn't fit and/or felt like they needed something else. This one in particular just didn't fit the record's theme. To be honest, we thought it was a little too cheery for ...And the Sky Fell. We're cheery people but we don't make cheery music."[5]

...And the Sky Fell was first released digitally on 27 June 2010, by British netlabel Lost Children Net Label,[1][8][9] which had previously released the band's eponymous extended play in 2009.[5] The release was given away for free download via the Internet Archive and the record label's website.[6][10]

On 23 February 2011,[11] the band self-released a compact disc version of ...And the Sky Fell, packaged in a jewel case.[5][6][12] Only 200 copies were pressed,[5] most of which were sold at local shows.[6] The physical re-issue included all-new artwork and an expanded layout. Whereas the original digital issue via Lost Children Net Label only included an x-ray image of a human body as cover art (designed by McKenna), the band-released version featured a landscape water colour painting of an octopus by Vincent Drummond.[5] Gowan detailed the process of the new artwork:

"The artwork for ...And the Sky Fell was done by our good friend Vincent Drummond, aka The Sleepwalker. We had an idea of what we wanted and Vince tirelessly hand water coloured the whole thing. Even the font for the title was scanned out of old books and put together letter by letter. We appreciate that kind of detail. I still think it's an impressive piece of art."[5]

On 11 May 2012,[13] five months after signing with Adam Mortaro's British music management company, Adequate Management,[5] Pet Slimmers of the Year re-issued ...And the Sky Fell digitally with the new artwork.[14] The re-issue was part of a promotional campaign by Adequate Management, which also saw the band's eponymous extended play receive renewed exposure.[5] When speaking with The Sludgelord about giving the music away for free on Bandcamp, the Internet Archive and various blogs (rather than selling it via iTunes), the band explained:

"The industry has changed, and people paying for music isn't really feasible anymore. In this genre, you just want people to hear it so if that means giving our EPs away for free, then so be it. Particularly in this genre, bloggers more often help you rather than hinder. We're always grateful when anyone likes what we do enough to post/re-post it and share it with others; the more people that hear it the better, and blogging sites are a good medium to enable this to happen.[6]

However, the band-released digital re-issues of Pet Slimmers of the Year and ...And the Sky Fell included slightly different versions of the songs from the ones originally released via Lost Children Net Label.[5] Unintentionally, the band uploaded earlier masters of the songs (instead of the final masters), which were lacking certain samples, had different transitions between songs, or had unwanted silence. The differences were more drastic on Pet Slimmers of the Year, but on ...And the Sky Fell, the only difference was an accidental 17 seconds of silence at the end of "I Am the Ocean". Gowan later revealed:

"I think most of the differences [on Pet Slimmers of the Year] came from the transitions between the tracks. The samples weren't added until later and I think the wrong version was used for the digital release on our Bandcamp page. Both the CD and the original digital version should be the same. It wasn't until someone else pointed it out that we knew they were missing from the digital reissue."[5]

In 2019, the band modified the artwork of both its eponymous extended play and ...And the Sky Fell for the name to read "PSOTY" instead of "Pet Slimmers of the Year".[15]