With the addition of drummer David Baynton-Power, violinist/guitarist Saul Davies, and keyboardist Mark Hunter, James released the single "Sit Down" in June 1989, before going to record their next album.

[2] The album had been delayed from release by Sire on eight different occasions, and was remixed at the insistence of the band's managers Eliot Rashman and Andy Dodd.

[5] Around this time, keyboardist Mark Armistead joined the band on a part-time basis; drummer Gavan Whelan was asked to leave in December 1988.

[6][7][8] They continued to gig, some shows featured Gary Rostock of Easterhouse or Mike Pickering's girlfriend as substitutes, until the following month when they were auditioning for a replacement.

[21] Happy with the success of One Man Clapping, Rough Trade founder Geoff Travis agreed to fund the band's next studio album.

[23] Around this time, the Madchester was exploding in popularity, which saw several acts that had supported James in the past – namely, the Happy Mondays, the Stone Roses, and the Inspiral Carpets – become successful.

[25] Gott was bitter about the experience: "They were getting the star treatment", such as big-name producers and working on expensive recording consoles, while also approaching the band for advice, "you're up there and look where we are, back with Nick in Out Of the Blue".

Booth said James were against using non-organic instruments in their songs, until seeing the Happy Mondays use it, which convinced the band to "stop worrying [...] and realise that you can get away with everything if it sounds good".

[45] The album's closing track, "Top of the World", is a ballad full of country blues guitarwork from Gott, and was reminiscent of Brian Eno's Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks (1983).

[46] The release of the "Come Home" single was promoted with a month-long tour of the UK, with support from the Band of Holy Joy; Diagram joined James for this stint.

[22][47][48] He was hesitant at first, due to the implosion of his band Dislocation Dance, and a grow resentment to any kind of pop, as he was more enthralled by experimental jazz.

[31] During the London date of the tour, the band had learned from their sound engineer that Dave Bates of Fontana Records was in attendance, alongside A&R people from other labels.

[48] Gold Mother was planned for release in February 1990;[22] around this time, the band were in talks with Fontana's owner Phonogram as they had recently relaunched the label.

[3] The band wanted a label that had the ambition to sell more copies than Travis' estimation, and eventually signed with Fontana Records, who cleared their £50,000 debt to Sire.

[17] The success of it was hampered due to Music Week misprinting their top 100 singles, resulting in a loss of airplay and opportunities to appear on TV.

[61] "How Was It for You" was released as a single on 30 April 1990,[62] with "Lazy", "Undertaker", live versions of "Whoops" and "Hymn from a Village", and remixes of "How Was It For You" as extra tracks.

[63][56] In spite of it charting well, the band were not allowed to appear on Top of the Pops, with the show refusing to air the video in the event younger viewers would attempt to recreate it.

[65] "Lose Control", produced by Flood, was released as a single on 26 November 1990, with a cover of the Velvet Underground's "Sunday Morning" (1966) and "Out to Get You" as extra tracks.

[17] The Flood mix of "Come Home", "Sit Down", "Lose Control", and "How Was It for You" were included on the band's first and fourth compilation albums The Best Of (1998) and Fresh as a Daisy – The Singles (2007).

[75] Gold Mother was reissued on CD in 2001, with the 1991 track listing, alongside the addition of "Crescendo", "Hang On", a remix of "Come Home", and live versions of "Lose Control" and "Sit Down".

Gold Mother was re-pressed on vinyl in 2017, with the 1991 track listing, alongside the inclusion of "Crescendo", "Hang On", and the version of "Come Home" that was replaced on the re-issue.

ZigZag writer David Giles called the album the band's "finest collection of songs" since Stutter, adding that they "may be slightly less adventurous melodically" than their earlier work, "but age certainly hasn't dampened their ardour.

"[37] Simon Williams of NME wrote that Gold Mother was "a bold, brazenly confident fulfillment of promises made" by the band's early tracks: "a multi-tiered extravaganza of organically upbeat intuition which challenges and chills with one hand and comforts with the other.

"[77] AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted that while "a few of the tracks captured the sprawling, epic splendor that James wished to achieve," the band had "difficulty writing convincing material, and they aren't nearly as interesting as they were when they concentrated on jangling folk-pop [as seen in their early releases].

"[32] Sounds' Sam King said the album sees the band's "inherent wariness surface amid some of their most and ... least satisfying moments to date."

He explained that the majority of Gold Mother "fails to live up to ... [the] heady standards" of the first few tracks, as it showcases "misjudged pre-'90s indie drivel.