Guitarist Raymond Amey, keyboardist Olivier Maire and rhythm guitarist Freddy Von Kaenel from La Chaux-de-Fonds in French-speaking western Switzerland founded the band Country Lane in 1970. With Giancarlo Duella (b) and Jean-Francois Donze (dr) as the complementary rhythm section, they toured successfully across the country and even won second prize in a band competition in Geneva. This led to a record deal with Splendid Records and various invitations to renowned festivals throughout Switzerland. They recorded their first and only album, Substratum, in November 1972 at Soundcraft Studio in La Chaux-de-Fonds, produced by Jean-Pierre Louvin, who was also the owner of the legendary Splendid Records label. Their self-penned songs consist of hard progressive rock with complex melodies, containing both psychedelic and jazzy elements. The heavy progressive rock album was released in May 1973 and received consistently positive reviews from the music press.

Nevertheless, the band broke up soon afterwards, firstly because the label's financial difficulties caused that the LP received no advertising or marketing, and secondly because the band split up due to musical differences. The original LP on the rare Swiss Splendid label, which also released other precious prog rock gems such as Pacific Sound and After Shave, is now traded at high prices.