Formed in the 1980s, Underworld had achieved limited success until the arrival of DJ Darren Emerson. The trio released Dubnobasswithmyheadman in 1993, which crossed over from being a techno smash to mainstream audiences.

The group had their biggest hit with Born Slippy, featured on the Trainspotting soundtrack, in 1995, the same year they released second album Second Toughest in the Infants. This was followed by four years spent DJing, remixing and compiling mix albums before the release of Beacoup Fish in 1999.

Darren Emerson left the group to concentrate on DJing in 2000 after the release of live album Everything Everything and the group returned as a duo in 2002 with A Hundred Days Off.