Douglas Heart first started out as a duo, an outgrowth from the shoegaze band Standing Pales. The two songwriters of the band, Malin Dahlberg {vocals} and Pontus Wallgren {guitar} started to make songs with a more intimate and minimalistic sound that they didn't really want to ruin with way to distorted guitars and a jangly garage sound. So they moved on from the noicepop, though still keeping the tunes and simple chords, and called themselves "Hal Blaine".