Signed with Mercury Records

In August 1998, IME signed with Mercury Records . Then, in November 1998, the band reunited with Paul Northfield, who again shared production duties with Jag Tanna on the new sessions, recording both in Toronto and Morin Heights. These sessions were chronicled on the internet by Bruce Gordon, lasting from November 1998 – March 1999, long considered the most fan-friendly member of the band (Gordon was known to answer fan emails dating back to the Scenery and Fish years). Armando Borg returned in the place of Conte on percussion, though Mansilla remained IME’s main percussionist. Rush frontman Geddy Lee was also brought in to provide bass for the album track “Good for Sule”. While the Tannas were still the main contributors, they described the creative process as more open than before. The result was Blue Green Orange , which was released in July 1999. It was somewhat of a departure from the band’s earlier work, opting for more textured, spacier sounds and less of an emphasis on the band’s hard-rock reputation. The album’s lead single, “Summertime in the Void”, was a hit on rock radio in Canada with the track’s video had multiple air plays on Much Music throughout the summer of 1999 and showed that the band was still commercially viable with a different singer and a change in sound. Subsequent singles “All Awake” and “When Did You Get Back from Mars?” also received radio and video airplay. The album was certified Gold in Canada, but was seen as a disappointment by many compared to the previous albums. Tanna and Northfield won a Juno Award in 2000 for “Best Recording Engineer”, and the album was nominated for “Best Album Design”.