After Azure Ray dissolved in 2004, the early-2000s Saddle Creek duo known for its dream-pop-infused Americana sound, co-founder Orenda Fink spent time journeying across continents while developing independent work. Her decision to assemble a new band in 2006 under the initial name Art Belle stemmed from earlier collaborations with fellow Saddle Creek musicians, especially Adrianne Verhoeven, which arose during her leadership of the solo endeavor The Invisible Ones—an effort reportedly sparked by an encounter with voodoo during a visit to Tahiti. The lineup drew directly from Verhoeven and other former touring members of that project, including Dan McCarthy (then performing as McCarthy Trenching), Steve Bartolomei, Ryan Fox, and Corey Broman. Shortly afterward the group adopted the name Art in Manila and began recording its first album, Set the Woods on Fire. The resulting collection centered on dreamy, alt-country-tinged rock that evoked the Buttless Chaps and, in certain respects, Over the Rhine, essentially delivering an Azure Ray aesthetic stripped of synthesizers and drum machines. Saddle Creek issued the record in late summer 2007.
