Musically, the sound of Four Cornered Night has been described as a post-punk iteration of the Beach Boys' album Pet Sounds (1966), as well as emo in the vein of the Juliana Theory, with softer tracks recalling the work of Elvis Costello. The title is taken from the poem A Rabbit as King of the Ghosts by Wallace Stevens, as Schwarzenbach explained: "It’s all four of us, the room, a night, and subjects I'm always going back to". The majority of the album featured him playing a piano, which he had been using for a year and half. Schwarzenbach theorised the instrument "changed a lot … I think it ended up affecting the songs and making them a little more orchestral, or a little more involved." As a result, it is heard on four of the album's tracks;Martin 2000, p. 32 the inclusion of the instrument drew a comparison to Summerteeth (1999)-era Wilco. Accompanied by strings, piano and acoustic guitar, Four Cornered Night is a more midtempo affair, then the aggressive guitarwork of Orange Rhyming Dictionary. As Schwarzenbach had shared guitar roles with Maryansky, it allowed him to spend more time working on vocals and keyboard.
