Wild Beasts emerged in 2002 when Hayden Thorpe, who handled guitar and vocals, joined forces with guitarist Ben Little to bring a flamboyant and sensual edge to England's typically reserved indie landscape. The pair first performed as Fauve until drummer Chris Talbot came aboard in 2004, prompting both a name change and the recording of a self-titled EP. Bassist Tom Flemming was then added, after which the quartet moved to Leeds and built a devoted local audience on the strength of its energetic sound and Thorpe's theatrical falsetto.
Several singles appeared on Bad Sneakers Records following the 2006 signing, before the band moved to Domino Records in 2007. Limbo, Panto, its debut album, reached U.K. listeners in July 2008 and U.S. audiences that November, with Two Dancers issued on the same label the following year.
Smother took shape in 2011 after the musicians retreated to an isolated North Wales location and resumed work with co-producer Richard Formby. Once an intensive touring cycle ended, the group paused to prepare Present Tense, its fourth album, produced by Lexxx and Leo Abrahams; the record entered the U.K. album chart at number ten upon release in 2014.
Boy King arrived two years later, an electronically oriented collection guided by Grammy winner John Congleton. In September 2017 Wild Beasts disclosed that they had disbanded. The Punk Drunk and Trembling EP, drawn from Boy King sessions, followed a month afterward. To mark their farewell tour the next February, the band released Last Night All My Dreams Came True, a live set of signature songs captured at RAK Studios.
