Folksinger and songwriter Sinéad Lohan debuted in early 1995 with the album Who Do You Think I Am, scoring several major hits in her native Ireland with singles including "Sailing By" and the Bob Dylan cover "To Ramona."

After touring the UK in support of avowed fan Joan Baez, Lohan travelled to New Orleans to collaborate with producer Malcolm Burn; the resulting LP, No Mermaid, made the subject of an intense American major label bidding war, with the victorious Interscope issuing the record in mid-1998.