Turin Brakes are a modern folk pop duo, comprising Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian, hailing from Balham, London. The band was started by longtime friends Knights and Paridjanian. The two met at a young age and spent much of their childhood together. Although they split after Knights went to film school and Paridjian attempted to form a band in Toronto, Canada, they soon reunited and collaborated on what would later become their first EP, The Door, which was eventually released through Anvil Records in 1999 as a limited vinyl release. This led to the band attracting the attention of larger record labels. Source Records would eventually release two more EPs, The State of Things EP and Fight or Flight, prompting NME to proclaim "Turin Brakes inhabit a space which is entirely their own, fully-formed and brutally emotive... give them the devotion they deserve.