Below the Waste is Art of Noise's fourth full-length original album and their last album for China Records before Anne Dudley reformed with ZTT's Trevor Horn and Paul Morley for 1999's The Seduction of Claude Debussy. The album saw the group experimenting with world music, collaborating with South African Zulu group Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens, who provide a heavy layer of mostly non-English-language vocals on three tracks (Yebo, Chain Gang and Spit). The album was produced by Anne Dudley, Ted Hayton and J.J. Jeczalik.