"Phantom Brickworks" was released 3 November 2017, preceded by the single "Capel Celyn" on 27 October 2017. In a divergence from his work over the last decade, the album is entirely ambient, made from a set of improvised compositions consisting of processed piano, synth, and guitar loops surrounded by tape hiss and field recordings. Recorded over ten years, Wilkinson produced the LP based on the concept that "places can be haunted by meaning," reasoning that "human beings are highly sensitive to the atmospheres of places, which can be enhanced or dramatically altered when you learn about the context of their history." Most of the song titles are references to abandoned places in the United Kingdom, such as Capel Celyn, a community in Gwynedd, Wales that was intentionally flooded to create a reservoir in 1965, and "Capel Bethania," a song named after a chapel demolished in 1991.