Originally formed by Juanita Stein and her brother Joel Stein in their native Sydney under the name Waikiki (1999-2004), they sent demos to a list of their favourite producers and, after receiving a positive response from Coldplay's right hand man Ken Nelson, decided to move to London and reinvent themselves as Howling Bells. Cold, gloomy winters, dead end jobs and squalid one room flats helped shape their sound into gothic, cinematic, indie blues and debut album Howling Bells (2006) earned a 9/10 review from NME and a nomination for the Australian Shortlist Music Prize. They went on to support The Killers, Mercury Rev and Snow Patrol with Juanita Stein developing into an elegantly cool front woman and an indie pin-up swooned over by teenage lads and increasingly smitten rock journalists. The band introduced synths and drum machines for the brooding, experimental second album Radio Wars (2009) to a mixed response, before recording its follow-up The Loudest Engine (2011) in Las Vegas, produced by The Killers bassist Mark Stoermer. After a brief hiatus, the band returned in 2014 with their fourth full-length, Heartstrings, recorded in London with Catherine J. Marks and Alan Moulder. After a long period of reduced activity following Heartstrings, during which members pursued solo projects, the band reunited for one‑off performances in 2017 and again in 2022 performing their debut in full at a series of UK shows, reconnecting with fans and laying the groundwork for new work. In September 2025, Howling Bells announced their first new music in eleven years in the form of the single "Unbroken", followed by the release of the fifth album Strange Life in February 2026, featuring other singles "Heavy Lifting", "Chimera", and "Melbourne."
