Alisha's Attic were discovered by Dave Stewart (of Eurythmics) after they sent him a demo tape recorded at home. Impressed, Mercury Records Managing Director Howard Berman signed the girls. They had been trying to get a record contract for nine years.

If one discounts the sisters' teenage material recorded as "Keren & Chelle", Karen and Shellie's recording career began with the single "I Am, I Feel", a hit in the UK, and this was quickly followed by their debut album Alisha Rules the World in November 1996. They were nominated for a 1997 Brit Award for Best Newcomer, losing out to Kula Shaker.

They went on to release two more albums. Their record label then chose not to take up the option for a fourth album, and the girls went their separate ways: Shellie focusing on a solo career and, as she did so, changing her name to Shelly; and Karen writing tracks for well-known artists including Will Young, Sugababes, Amy Studt, and Kylie Minogue.

A solo album entitled Hard time for The Dreamer was released by Shelly in 2005; she has also written material for Janet Jackson and appears on Michael Gray's "Borderline".

"Pretender Got My Heart" appeared on the "Bridget Jones Diary" soundtrack.

The song "Intense" appeared in the motion picture Starship Troopers , but did not appear on the film's soundtrack.