"Septet" marks Kirby's return to ensemble playing. As a keyboardist, composer, and producer, he has worked with artists such as Solange, Frank Ocean, and Harry Styles, and has played in the touring bands of Blood Orange and Connan Mockasin. "Septet," Kirby's second album for Stones Throw after My Garden in 2020, brings together several Los Angeles musicians and arrives at a time when the city's jazz scene is flourishing. Kirby, who grew up in Los Angeles, was inspired by the city's nature and how it intertwines with the urban environment. On "Septet," he brilliantly imagines the city's flora and fauna and its history: on one song, he strolls through LA with a native puma as a pet, while the rhythmic cadence of "Rainmaker" (feat Mac Demarco, Cola Boyy, Eddie Chacon & Kerwin Frost) evokes "a rotating sprinkler going back and forth on a lawn on a hot day."