Ainger began playing together around 2007, but the full group did not coalesce until several years later. They envisioned themselves as a multimedia artist collective, working from a former NatWest bank building in Elephant and Castle which they dubbed Breton Labs. The group released three extended plays and did remixes for artists such as Tricky, Alt J, The Temper Trap, Lana Del Rey and Local Natives. The group signed to Fatcat Records in 2011 and released their debut full-length, Other People's Problems, early the following year. For much of 2012-2013 the band played around Europe while writing material in preparation for a follow-up album. As their own studios had been earmarked for demolition, the five-piece moved to Berlin to record the new album. They set up their own label and signed with Believe Recordings (UK) and released the singles "Envy" and "Got Well Soon" by the end of 2013. In early February 2014, the album War Room Stories was released. The group is named after the French surrealist André Breton.