Skunkhour's record company (Sony) failed to support Skunkhour's quest to re-enter the European market and moves to boost their status in Australia were not forthcoming, so the decision was made to sever the contract.

Following the split from Sony, Skunkhour needed a break from...Skunkhour. They were physically and creatively drained, so they worked independently on other projects for television (Channel 10's mini-series 'Ihaka'), theatre (A Clockwork Orange - Aya also acted in the production), and film ('Two Hands').

It wasn't until late 1999 that Skunkhour decided to regroup. The result was the upbeat, feel-good single, 'Home' (October), released on the independent label Velvet Sounds. The song registered #82 on the 1999 Triple J Hottest 100 list.

"Home just kind of happened. We released it as an independent single to see whether or not we wanted to keep going, and people really liked the song. We approached the rest of our writing in a new way, and from that came this new album [The Go]." -- Aya

After deciding to stay together and forge ahead with a new album, Skunkhour signed a deal with Universal Music Australia. 'Kick In The Door'' was released in October 2000, which promptly became Skunkhour's fourth single to make into Triple J's Hottest 100 (#83).

Skunkhour toured sporadically whilst putting the finishing touches on the new album, and played for the Australian troops in East Timor (Dec 2000).

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