Their final name was derived from the band's obsession with air travel, which is also present in their song titles and lyrics.
On 9 April 2001, the band released their first single as Tetra Splendour - "Mr. Bishi" (on CD and on 7" vinyl, of which only 500 copies were made).
[1] The album received mixed reviews from the rock press, and many disagreements arose—mainly over Radiohead comparisons and whether or not their "meandering jazzy nonsense" was a good thing.
While recording new material, EMI was the subject of a management change, which led to the subsequent releases of many bands from their old contracts, including Tetra Splendour.
After being dropped by EMI, the band recorded a new album at Wales' Monnow Valley Studio, containing new songs (with newly hired keyboard player Ian Russell) and unreleased Tetra Splendour material.
The single featured two unreleased Tetra Splendour tracks as B-sides (and being accompanied by a music video, which again received limited airplay).
"Talking Heads", which has since been renamed to "If You Talk Too Much (My Head Will Explode)", a line from the song's chorus (a decision Wind-Up made to make the songs more recognizable on the radio), has since had a new video made, shot in an airport, that was directed by actor Joaquin Phoenix.
At the 2005 South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, the band met Jeff Klein, with whom they would later tour in June 2005.
They announced the winner of their cover contest as well and played a rendition of Hall & Oates' song "Maneater".
New song titles include: "Baked", "Evil With You", "Get On The Flaw", "Human Error", "Better Than Life", "I Wish That You'd Fall Apart" and "Tonight (The Sun Will Rise)" On 7 February 2008 People In Planes released "Pretty Buildings", the first song from Beyond the Horizon as an internet download through MySpace and the band's mailing list.
[5] The song "pretty buildings" was featured in the Swedish-developed obstacle dodging flash game "Metro.Siberia – People in Planes edition" named after the band, which appeared on the front page of Newgrounds.com on April 17, 2008.
They mentioned upcoming new music on a Myspace blog from February 2010, and hinted fans might get an advance glimpse by signing up for their emailing list.
In August 2011, Steve Osborne reported on his website that he is producing a forthcoming album by People In Planes.