Second Layer was an electronic-based outlet for The Sound's Adrian Borland and Graham Bailey. Borland supplied guitars and vocals while Bailey provided keyboards, bass, and drum programming. The full length album World of Rubber was issued in 1981, after two EPs "Flesh as Property" (1979) and "State of Emergency" (1980). Since the duo was central to The Sound's sound, their side project retained some of that feel, albeit in a slightly detached fashion that's to be expected when synths and drum machines replace more human elements.