Hundred Waters wrote and produced most of their second album, The Moon Rang Like a Bell, while on tour with alt-J, The xx, Julia Holter and others; it was released on May 27, 2014.

[1] Hundred Waters members Trayer Tryon, Paul Giese, and Zach Tetreault became friends and musical collaborators while attending middle school together in Orlando, Florida.

[2] During this time, the four were backing fellow Gainesville musician and friend David Levesque's live sets during early tours for his project Levek.

[10] The album's initial release on Elestial Sound was well received by critics, with Pitchfork giving it an 8.1/10 rating, praising it for its "unapologetic, real-time virtuosity, compositional refinement, and vision.

Stereogum included Hundred Waters in their 40 Best New Bands of 2012 and Top 10 Sets of CMJ 2012, stating, "Their arpeggios are classical, their sense of drama and space and volume is post-rock, their time signatures are prog, their delicate and interweaving vocal harmonies are choral.

"[14] Hundred Waters toured their first album extensively throughout 2012 to 2013, playing over 200 shows including direct support domestically and internationally for Alt-J and The xx.

All members returned to their management company's Downtown Los Angeles’ headquarters to record vocals and mix the album, continuing to experiment with unconventional production techniques.

[16] The first two singles Down From The Rafters and Cavity were both awarded Pitchfork's Best New Music designation and the latter premiered on NPR alongside a video directed by acclaimed experimental filmmaker, Michael Langan.

The band had previously stayed at the facility; Giese had studied the town while earning a master's degree in architecture at University of Florida.

The festival was meant for the friends, family and residents of the Arcosanti community, but it became a three-day event celebrating the May 27th release of The Moon Rang Like a Bell.

Performers included Majical Cloudz, How To Dress Well, ESKMO, Kodak To Graph, Julie Byrne, Suno Deko, Alvin Risk and others.

[24] The band performed The Moon Rang Like a Bell live, headlining a tour with Mas Ysa, GEMS, and Pure Bathing Culture from June to July 2014.