"Most of the songs on that album were written and performed over a two or three year period," says Dom. "so it was a pretty good collection of tunes that we had to work with. It was also the first time we'd really utilized the studio for production ideas. Prior to that, we'd never done too much in the way of overdubbing. I wanted the album to show that we'd progressed to a more melodic Power Pop sound while still retaining our '60s punk aesthetic. 'At First Sight' (the first of three singles culled from the album) was along the lines of something like 'Let's Pretend' (the Raspberries) or a Badfinger tune but ended up sounding quite unique. The Monkees and the Easybeats were an influence and I guess the Stems album had some of those references, but we had our own distinctive sound."

Debuting at Number 1 on the Australian alternative charts, the album also infiltrated the mainstream charts making At First Sight – Violets Are Blue one of the year's big success stories. Interest in the band from overseas, particularly in Europe (not to mention from independent-minded rock magazines such as Britain's Bucketful Of Brains and America's The Bob), was also on the rise. By August of 1987, however, cracks were beginning to show in the Stems' firmament due to a combination of exhaustion, tensions within the group and management problems. That October, on the eve of what was to be the Stems' first European tour, Dom quit the band.

The Stems may have been over, but Dom, still signed to Mushroom as an artist, sensed an opportunity. Back during the Stems' '85 Sydney sojourn Dom had roomed with his friend Darryl Mather, late of the Lime Spiders. Bonding over a mutual powerpop obsession as well as a healthy love for classic British Invasion, the pair hatched a scheme to record a one-off single under the very pop-sounding monicker The Someloves. Explains Dom, "Darryl and I were sharing a house together in Petersham and we'd often talk about doing a single together. It was about a week away from the Stems going back to Perth so we said we'd better do it."

'It's My Time' b/w 'Don't Talk About Us' had come out in early '86, earning great reviews and indie chart placement in both Australia and Europe. Upon leaving the Stems, Dom and Mather proposed reviving their little pop project to Mushroom. Mushroom enthusiastically agreed, and the Someloves soon found themselves recording for Mushroom imprint White Label.

The duo wrote a pair of tunes, 'Know You Now' and 'Don't Have To Try', then, in a stroke of inspiration, contacted famed Southern pop producer Mitch Easter (R.E.M., Let's Active) about putting some final production and mixing touches on the songs.