Matthew Dear began developing the 2007 album due to unreleased material beginning to build up on his hard drives.^[5] Disliking having unused tracks, Dear talked with his label Minus about using the material to create an album that was to be different from his previous works.^[5] The album was developed as a dark and rhythmless mix, which was "a big turn on to complete the album" for Dear.^[5] Dear describes the process of creating 2007 as like creating two separate albums: first focusing on creating individual tracks and then working on bringing them together as a seamless work.^[5] Dear titled the album 2007 due to it being completed in said year, to give it a stamp of timeliness, and to avoid applying a forced narrative to the music.^[5]

A vinyl single was released of "Fed on Youth", with a B-side of "Face the Rain".

Resident Advisor—an online magazine with a focus on electronic music—named 2007 as the 10th best album of 2007.^[6] In their review of the album, RA described 2007 as "mystifying" and praised it for "dodging every effort to be understood."^[7]XLR8R called the album a "pinnacle of minimal-techno artistry",^[8] and Dusted Magazine praised its "perfect balance between austerity and propulsion."^[9] However, Hot Press criticised 2007 for not capturing the zeitgeist of the actual year 2007.^[10]

• Press release for 2007 Archived 2011-07-14 at the Wayback Machine