After building a following through their EP releases, their debut album The Good Will Out went to number 1 in the British charts on 14th June 1998. However, the sales for their subsequent releases, Drawn from Memory (2000) and If You've Never Been (2001) were disappointing by comparison and the band were dropped by Hut Records in 2002, amid confusion as Virgin Records (Hut's parent company) were taken over by EMI.

Around this time frontman Danny McNamara became tabloid fodder due to a rumoured relationship with 90's pop diva Gina G. McNamara was also in a brief relationship with journalist Jayne Thompson.

They were signed by Andy McDonald to his Independiente Records label and produced a successful comeback album Out of Nothing, which reached number 1 in the UK in 2004. The 'comeback' single that preceded this album was Gravity, which had been written by Coldplay's Chris Martin and given to the band as Martin felt it sounded more like Embrace than Coldplay.

Danny McNamara and Chris Martin had become firm friends after Coldplay had supported Embrace back in 2000 in Blackpool. The single was an instant hit, charting in at number 7. Coldplay have since re-recorded Gravity as a b-side for their single Talk.

The band's fifth studio album, This New Day was released on the 27th March, with the single Nature's Law being released the week before (and entering the Official UK Singles Chart at number 2). The album has been seen as a 'fresh start' by the band, with a new songwriting process in place, seeing the whole band contributing to the songs, not just the old writing partnership the McNamara brothers had previously enjoyed.

Indeed, Danny McNamara commented that "As kids we grew up listening to bands like Joy Division, Echo & the Bunnymen and U2, bands who've always used this technique, but it's something we'd never tried before. It's been an incredibly inspiring experience and really feels like a whole new start for us". This new technique certainly saw the band at its most productive, recording 24 songs in just nine days.

Although they are still relatively unknown outside of the UK, their single Ashes is one of the featured "EA Trax" on EA Sports's console-spanning FIFA Soccer 2006, and was also heard in the season two episode of Veronica Mars entitled "Normal Is the Watchword".

Furthermore, it was used on the BBC's Premiership football highlights programme 'Match of the Day' as the 'Goal of the Month' theme tune for the 2005-2006 season. Gravity was used as the theme for the ITV series Mike Bassett: Manager in 2005. The song "3 Is a Magic Number" has been featured on Swedish commercials.

Following their successful return with Out Of Nothing, the first single Nature's Law from This New Day entered the charts at #2 on 26 March 2006, providing them with their biggest hit by far. This New Day went straight into the charts at #1 and became their third number 1 album in Britain.