Hands Off Gretel was formed from the foundations of an early musical partnership between Lauren Tate and guitarist Sean McAvinue. Following a tumble down the stairs at rehearsal, Sean broke his hand and the then recently formed Lauren Tate Band quickly fell apart. Frustrated by having to wait till he got fixed, Lauren picked up the electric guitar for the first time and started to play. She wrote a bunch of new songs describing them as 'frustration songs' with a new rawness, expressive energy and honesty.