After releasing two expansive double albums in a row, the Llamas sought to strip their sound and scope down for their follow-up to Cold and Bouncy, which saw release a year later in the form of 1999’s Snowbug.

The work of Milton Nascimento, Gal Costa, Jorge Ben, Chico Barque, Pierro Piccioni and other pioneering Brazilian artists have been repeatedly credited as influences on the album, which eschewed the Beach Boys and electronic influences that dominated it’s predecessors almost entirely in favor of a dry sound dominated by nylon guitars and tack pianos.

In an interview from 2011, O’Hagan states that “my interest in Brazilian 60s and 70s music was very much in the ascendancy. But I was also trying to spin in folk influence from the UK or even Polynesia, and finally a flavour of Sly Stone possibly trailed by listening to Shuggie Otis’ Inspiration Information”. Vocalists Laetitia Sadier and Mary Hansen of Stereolab feature prominently throughout the album, which was self-produced by the band, recorded in James McBride’s studio in South London and mixed by John McEntire at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio studio in Chicago.

Snowbug was released in October 1999, and was the band’s final album under the auspices of V2 and Jeremy Pearce. The album received mixed reviews upon release, though it remains a firm favorite among fans and O’Hagan has consistently referred to the album as one of the band’s best efforts, and one that foreshadowed much of the band’s output in the new millenium. The original vinyl release became a rarity that frequently fetched high prices on the second-hand market, and it was later reissued by Drag City as part of their reissue campaign in 2024.