Before the band's informal announcement, they recorded 17 songs in the basement of a synthesizer store called AnalogLand in Baltimore, without the use of a computer.

[2] Transeau said that the record was inspired by the teen angst of listening to synthpop bands from the 1980s and 1990s such as Depeche Mode, Yaz, The Human League, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and The Blue Nile.

On July 21, 2014, Transeau and Burns announced that their band would be touring with Erasure in fall 2014 for the album The Violet Flame.

[7] On December 24, 2016, the duo released the song "All Hail the Silent Night" for free to celebrate Christmas.

[8] On September 28, 2018, the duo released its first official single, "Diamonds in the Snow", with an accompanying music video.