Belgium-based trio Hooverphonic formed in 1997 when 17-year-old singer Geike Arnaert replaced Lies Sardonius, givng the band its now definitive voice. But the band had ben hard at work before that. Guitarist and founding member Raymond Geerts started his musical career as the key member of various cover bands, but found his real musical footing when Alex Callier introduced him to Frank Duchine, who he'd met while both were attending film school. The three began playing music together and soon developed into a band. "Inhaler" was the first Hooverphonic song to indicate their unique niche, a sound that got them a record deal with Sony Music and lead to their debut album, A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular (with Sadonius on vocals), in 1997. The album spawned an international radio hit, "2 Wicky," which became even bigger when it was included in the soundtrack of Bernardo Bertolucci's film, Stealing Beauty. Sardonius soon departed, however, making way for Arnaert, who she began touring with Hooverphonic within a month of their first joint rehearsal. Arnaert's first album with Hooverphonic was 1998's Blue Wonder Power Milk.

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With her unique,almost frail, voice, Arnaert evolved Hooverphonic into a new style, augmentiing their pop songs into more atmospheric, wistful moods rarely heard in contemporary pop. Originally more of a trip-hop trio, evidenced by their debut A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular, the Hooverphonic has carved their nice the pop side of music since its album The Magnificent Tree, but not pop in any conventional sense. This is not pre-packaged, dessert topping top 40. Instead, Hooverphonic give us the catchy tunes of The Monkees that have the mood and lyrics of Nirvana, with the instrumental panache of Portisehead. Instead of sticking with a formula, Hooverphonic thrives on its thirst for experimentation, reinventing their sound with each album, keeping the music fresh not just for themselves, but also for us.