My Bloody Valentine booked a studio in 1989 expecting to finish their second album in five days. Instead, the sessions stalled for years, with engineers replaced, tapes confiscated over unpaid bills and studios changed again and again. Kevin Shields often wrote lyrics only after the vocals were recorded, with Bilinda Butcher guessing the words from his singing. The album was finally mastered over thirteen days, after the editing computer scrambled the mix. Estimates of its cost ranged widely, and Shields argued the label's near-bankruptcy was exaggerated.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.