Landline was self-produced and is Laswell's first album since 2010's Take A Bow, and his fourth full-length.

Landline's 11 new tracks were recorded by Laswell in a church-turned-house in a small lobstering town in down-east Maine. Laswell's nomadic tendencies caused him to relocate from Los Angeles to New York City, eventually ending up at the church-turned-house that is owned by his wife's parents. The album's title was inspired by the fact that the home-recording-studio had no cell-phone reception, forcing Laswell to use landlines for all of his calls.

The album features collaborations with a number of well-known female singers, including Ingrid Michaelson, Sia, Elizabeth Ziman (of Elizabeth and the Catapult) and Sara Bareilles (on the album's lead single 'Come Back Down.') Inspired by hip-hop records that he was listening to while writing and recording the album, Laswell decided he wanted to work with and feature female vocals alongside his own. Each singer brings a new element and personality to the songs, whether it's Bareilles' energy that caused Laswell to need to re-record his vocals, or the fact that he co-wrote the album's title track with Ingrid Michaelson when the power went out one night.