The music is never mere background, and its structures never seem to be pure underpinning for the choreography.

This seems to be mere background at first, but in fact it is central to the plot.

In each case, modern architecture is an active, intense presence in the unfolding of the story, providing far more than a mere background.

The work week was routine, night watch now mere background.

The hum of the ship, the general noise that had been mere background until then suddenly dominated the room.

The first school thinks of a wall as a means to an end, a support, a mere background.

As usual, the room subtly became a mere background to him.

When we observe other people, the person is the primary reference point while the situation is overlooked as if it is nothing but mere background.

The problem here is that the stripes pop forward, reducing the field to mere background.

Facts are never mere background for Robinson's fiction.