2004–2013 Erik Stein and Jon Boux's shared musical influences include
OMD,
Nits,
the Blue Nile,
Pink Floyd, and early
Genesis. Stein has also cited
the Stranglers,
the Residents,
Gary Numan,
Tuxedomoon,
the Associates,
John Foxx,
Devo,
Yello,
Art of Noise and
Captain Beefheart. The classically-trained Boux has drawn inspiration from composers such as
Ralph Vaughan Williams,
Edward Elgar,
Aaron Copland,
Arvo Pärt and
Brian Eno. Having contributed three instrumental tracks to 17 Pygmies' comeback album
13 Blackbirds, Cult With No Name made their full debut with the album
Paper Wraps Rock in 2007. The album was met with broadly positive reviews, although the band regard it as their weakest, with the renowned music journalist
Mick Mercer in particular championing the band, and making them his 'discovery of 2007'. The band's second album,
Careful What You Wish For, was released a year later and included the instrumental track "You Know Me Better Than I Know Myself", which featured Tuxedomoon's Blaine L. Reininger on violin, and a piano-based cover of
The Stranglers' classic "
Golden Brown". The album was met with positive reviews, with supporters that include the filmmaker
Don Letts. Former
Suede frontman,
Brett Anderson, also invited Cult With No Name to open for him at the launch of his solo album
Slow Attack. The band's next project was to record a new score for the classic German expressionist silent film,
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, which was released simultaneously as a DVD and digital download in 2009 and coincided with the 90th anniversary of the making of the film. The score was notable for the inclusion of songs alongside instrumental soundscapes. In late 2010, Cult With No Name released their fourth studio album, entitled
Adrenalin, which expanded the band's sound to include elements of trip-hop and psychedelia. The album includes the disco-pastiche, "The All Dead Burlesque Show" and underground electronic hit "Breathing". The website dsoaudio.com hailed the album as a "serious contender for album of the year".
Above as Below, Cult With No Name's fifth album, was released in January 2012. For the first time, it saw the band collaborate with a number of outside artists.
Kelli Ali (ex-
Sneaker Pimps) contributed extensively, including co-writing the song "Shake Hands with the Devil". Other contributors included Bruce Geduldig and Luc van Lieshout of Tuxedomoon, ex-Stranglers and
Peter Gabriel guitarist
John Ellis and Meg Maryatt of 17 Pygmies. The cover art and packaging for the album was designed by
David Bowie and
Damien Hirst collaborator
Jonathan Barnbrook and manufactured using a
letterpress.
Mark Moore of
S'Express described the album as possessing "such warmth, such style, such bliss". The band broke away from Trakwerx records following the release on the album. 2012 also saw CWNN contribute the opening track to a remix album from the German band S.Y.P.H., which features ex-Captain Beefheart guitarist
Gary Lucas and
Rambo Amadeus, amongst others.
2013–present In early 2013, Kelli Ali released her fifth solo album
Band of Angels, which saw the band co-write and perform on two songs including the track "Eternity". The band's sixth album,
Another Landing, was released in April 2014 on the band's own CWNN Music label. The album again saw the band collaborate with Tuxedomoon members Blaine L. Reininger, Bruce Geduldig and Luc van Lieshout, Kelli Ali and John Ellis, as well as Japanese electronica artist
Coppe', and features the track "Swept Away", which was subsequently remixed by
Rusty Egan. 2014 also saw the band contribute a cover "Typist of Candy" by
Nits for the album
ISNT NITS. 2016 saw the band contribute to a cover of Tuxedomoon's 'Loneliness' to a Crammed Discs reissue of the band's classic '
Half-Mute' album, that also featured
Foetus,
Aksak Maboul, and
Simon Fisher Turner. Working once more with Blaine L. Reininger, Luc Van Lieshout and Kelli Ali, they also covered S'Express's 'COMA' for their 'Enjoy This Trip' remix album, which also included tracks from
Chris & Cosey, Tom Furse from
The Horrors,
Primal Scream,
Billie Ray Martin and Reuben Wu from
Ladytron. 'Heir of the Dog', the band's 8th album, was released in September 2017, featuring the usual guest appearances from
Tuxedomoon and
Kelli Ali. The album includes the song 'No News', which closes the film 'Blue Velvet Revisited' but was not included on the soundtrack. Roger Spy directed a memorable 'cut up' video for the song 'When I Was a Girl'. The album picked up very favourable reviews. The track 'All I Have Is Yours (Including You)' appeared in the closing scene of the film 'The Allnighter', directed by Aimee Graham (sister of
Heather Graham). A cover of
The Residents's 'Boo Who?' appeared on the 2018 collaborative fan project 'I Am A Resident' through
Cherry Red Records, and the band also contributed a cover of 'I Hate Heaven' to a tribute to the late
Hardy Fox, which also featured The Residents,
Renaldo and the Loaf, and
Fred Frith. The band's 9th album 'Mediaburn' was released in October 2019 and was met with very positive reviews. More political than earlier albums, it includes a number of sardonic put-downs of contemporary society. The album is also notable for the track '(No Such Thing As) Silence' which was commissioned by the
Olympus Corporation and composed using ambient sounds solely captured via an Olympus LS-P4 mobile audio recorder. Several reviews also paid special attention the album's packaging. Kelli Ali released the album 'Ghostdriver' in 2020. The album was a soundtrack album to a forthcoming film of the same name and featured two pieces written by CWNN. Stein and Boux also performed on several other tracks on there album and Stein acts in the film. In August 2021, the band released their 10th album, entitled 'Nights in North Sentinel'. It is the first of their album not to feature at least one 'piano and vocal' song, and is noticeably more electronic. The album was again met with extremely positive reviews. the video artist and musician Roger Spy again directed a promo video for the band, for the song 'You're All You Ever Needed'. A remix of
Renaldo and the Loaf's 'Djinn House' appeared on their 'Hardly Gurning While The World is Turning' album, alongside remixes by the likes of
Transglobal Underground,
The Residents,
Section 25 and
Eric Drew Feldman. The band also remixed
R. Stevie Moore for 'The Gatekeepers', and ensemble concept album written by Alex Wroten that featured many notable leftfield artists. The band's 11th album 'X into I' was released in April 2023, featuring 11 tracks (the title being a reference to the Roman numeral XI). It was the first of their albums to not feature any outside musicians since their 2007 debut. The packaging for the album included a
fresnel lens to enable listeners to decipher and decode the album's lyrics. The album was met with extremely positive reviews, with Electronic Sound Magazine describing the band as 'synthpop's best-kept secret'. 'Indifference and Dust' was released in 2025, with Blitzed Magazine praising the duo and stating, 'I'm struggling to think of any acts that can compete.' The band were invited to contribute a remix to 'Remix: Encounters', the comeback album of
Propaganda (band), which also featured the likes of
Moby and
Tangerine Dream. ==
Blue Velvet Revisited ==