Background
Radio Wars was a collective songwriting effort among drummer Glenn Moule, bass guitarist Brendan Picchio, guitarist Joel Stein, and Joel's sister, vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Juanita Stein. The majority of the songwriting on Howling Bells, their debut album, was provided by Juanita. For Radio Wars, members collaborated in the rehearsal studio whenever they could find time. Yet, while touring to support their debut album, the four members wrote much of the new material on laptops. In August 2007, they all brought their songs to a listening party at Juanita and Joel's parents' house in Australia and selected the songs that they would work on. They sought out a country home in Victoria where they recorded fifteen to twenty demos of their new material. At this demoing location, attempts to tune in to radio stations to capture a regular signal generated unstable and erratic reception – referred to as 'radio wars' by the band. This provided ideas for two of the tracks, "Radio Wars Theme" and "Digital Hearts" and the album's name.
In 2007, Howling Bells departed from Bella Union, the UK record label that had released their eponymous debut album. The band declined the option of signing to a major label for the release of Radio Wars. Discussions with major labels had affirmed that their objective was for the band to continue to write the same kind of music from their first record. The band opposed the idea of someone dictating to them the type of material that they should be creating. In January 2008, Howling Bells brokered a deal with, Independiente, since the record label's main focus was for music rather than money. The group maintained their relationship with Liberation, which issued the album in Australia. Radio Wars became the band's first album issued outside of the UK and Australia after they signed with Play It Again Sam, which released the album in Europe, Hostess Entertainment, which released the album in Japan, and Nettwerk Music Group, which released the album in North America.
Read more about this topic: Radio Wars (album)
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