Frontman Andy Partridge, who at the time was recovering from a nervous breakdown, embraced the idea of the band becoming a purely studio-based act, which resulted in a new burst of productivity.

Drummer Terry Chambers, who preferred performing live, struggled to adapt and quit the group after recording only two tracks and a B-side, with Pete Phipps replacing him for the remaining sessions.

Virgin Records were concerned by the album's lack of potential singles, and urged the band to rework the material several times, which delayed its release by several months.

Following the band's retirement from touring in 1982, frontman Andy Partridge and his wife Marianne vacated their rent-free flat at King's Hill Road and moved to an Edwardian home in Swindon's Old Town,[2] while bassist/songwriter Colin Moulding spent more time with his family.

[4] Additionally, the band negotiated to take control of their own finances going forward, with any money owed by Virgin going into a deposit account, where they would pay themselves a monthly wage of £650.

[5] Drummer Terry Chambers, who now lived in Australia with girlfriend Donna and new son Kai, reluctantly moved back to Swindon to prepare for the new album's sessions.

[6] It was during these sessions in October that Chambers left in the middle of rehearsing the song "Love on a Farmboy's Wages", due to displeasure with both the band's retirement from touring and their new material, as well as difficulty with his girlfriend.

"[10] Gregory then suggested former Gary Glitter drummer Pete Phipps as a replacement, who had also drummed for Random Hold, a band that had once supported XTC on tour.

[11] The label recruited Bob Sargeant to produce more tracks, and Partridge provided "Great Fire" and "Gold", which were then recorded at Odyssey Studios in London, with the former becoming the album's first single.

[11] After "Great Fire" was issued as a single on 22 April and was not successful, Virgin asked the band to provide additional new songs, to which they refused, so a compromise was struck; four potential singles that had already been recorded—"Wonderland", "Funk Pop a Roll", "Deliver Us From the Elements" and "Human Alchemy"—would be remixed by Alex Sadkin and Phil Thornalley,[14] which eventually led the album to go over budget.

[16] The U.S. release was initially scheduled for 26 May 1983 by Epic Records (it was even assigned a catalog number: BFE 38516), but the label thought it was too acoustic and pastoral for American audiences.

[19] In his 1992 appraisal of the band for the Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot stated that Mummer "combines lilting love songs with clumsy social commentaries.

"[17] In a later retrospective review for AllMusic, Chris Woodstra felt the album was "very much the work of an eccentric in isolation" and featured "moments of real inspiration, resulting in some of the band's finest songs to date".