Strip-mine is the second studio album by English rock band James. It was released on 26 September 1988, through Sire and Blanco y Negro Records. After minimal touring and lack of success for their debut studio album Stutter (1986), the label was apprehensive about letting them record another album. Sessions for it were held in early 1987 at Rockfield Studios with Hugh Jones producing the majority of the album, except for "Are You Ready", which produced by Steve Power and Steve Lovell. After the recording, the release was delayed a number of times, until it was eventually remixed early the following year at London's Battery Studios. Described as a folk-pop album, the songs on Strip-mine tackled the topics of misinformation, addiction, and human mortality. Strip-mine received generally positive reviews from music critics, some of whom praised the quality of the songwriting. It peaked at number 90 in the United Kingdom, as did "What For". Following the album's remixing, James had management issues; "What For" was released as the lead single in March 1988. They went on a UK tour in May 1988, supported by the Stone Roses. "Ya Ho" was released as the album's second single in September 1988, which was followed by a UK tour, supported by the Happy Mondays. In November 1988, the band left Sire, and by the following month, drummer Gavin Whelan was ousted from the band. Background James released their debut studio album Stutter in July 1986, through Sire and Blanco y Negro Records. It was met with positive reviews, and was promoted with a four-show UK tour the following month. Aside from some performances in Europe, the band opted not to tour in support of the album, which they later regretted. Alongside this, the album had little press advertising due to lack of funding. According to frontman Tim Booth, the sole feedback the band received about the album from Sire was that it was deemed "too English." Sire were annoyed by the album's lack of success, and in spite of feeling disenfranchised, the band took on board the label's criticisms. As a result, the demos for their next album were leaning in more of a commercial direction. Seymour Stein, who was the head of Sire and had signed the band, was difficult to contact, according to Booth. If the band wanted to do anything, they had to run it past Stein first, which would