[3] Cannell was born in Norwich and studied at the London College of Music, before returning to Norfolk to complete a master's degree at the University of East Anglia and to begin her career as a performing musician.

The group was reduced to a duo (Cannell and Lever) by the time of the release of their second album, DINDIRIN (2007), which also featured veteran early musician Philip Thorby as guest performer on viol.

Cannell subsequently combined her own material with these early sources, resulting in "music that has one foot in the loops of Steve Reich and John Adams, the other in the melodies of moorland England and medieval Europe".

[12] Cannell also performs in the trio Oscilanz, together with Ralph Cumbers and Charles Hayward of the experimental rock band, This Heat[13] and with fellow improvising violinist Angharad Davies as Mythos of Violins.

[22] In November 2019, Whistling Arrow, a sextet comprising Ex-Easter Island Head, Laura Cannell, André Bosman and Charles Hayward, released an album via God Unknown records.