The band was founded following the demise of Cave and Harvey's former group the Birthday Party, the members of which met at a boarding school in Melbourne. Throughout the 1980s, beginning with their debut LP "From Her to Eternity" (1984), the band drew largely on post-punk, blues and gothic rock, and brought in musicians such as Blixa Bargeld, Barry Adamson and Kid Congo Powers. The band later softened their sound and incorporated other influences on albums such as "The Good Son" (1990) and "The Boatman's Call" (1997). Following Harvey's departure in 2009, the band broadened their sound further to include electronic and ambient styles, which feature prominently on the trilogy of albums "Push the Sky Away" (2013), "Skeleton Tree" (2016) and "Ghosteen" (2019).