The band was formed in 2003 from the collaboration of guitarist Dan Smith with singer and bassist Shingai Shoniwa, who were both members of the band "Sonarfly" at the time. The two enlisted drummer Jamie Morrison and had their first live gigs during the winter. The first EP Three Moods of the Noisettes was released in April 2005 on the London indie rock label "Side Salad Records".
The band soon signed a deal with major label Universal Music Group, who released the EP in the US under the label name "Low Altitude". The next single, Iwe, was released on the "Transgressive" label, followed by Scratch Your Name on Mercury/Side Salad Records. All subsequent records were released on Vertigo Records.
Originally started as punk rock, the three musicians decided in 2007 to succeed with a more pleasing sound between soul, disco-funk and indie-pop. The two releases of Scratch Your Name are an example of this. Basically, they borrow from all sorts of styles for their songs: Rockabilly (Don't Give Up), Hardrock (Scratch Your Name), Electropop (24 Hours).
The charismatic singer Shoniwa, who hails from Zimbabwe, is often praised as the new punk-soul "goddess". This is due in equal measure to her creatively outlandish clothing, her strongly developed self-assurance and her extraordinary vocal qualities, which can change from gossamer to "pulverizingly wild" in an instant.
The Noisettes announced for their second album that they would present a kind of musical concept album, "just like the first Portishead album had its own sound".
In January 2009, the song Don't Upset the Rhythm was used in a Mazda commercial. It is the second single from the album Wild Young Hearts, which was not officially delivered until April 2009.
Noisettes have toured extensively through clubs in Europe and the US. They have opened for Babyshambles, Bloc Party and Muse. On several occasions, songs by them have been incorporated into recent computer games. The Noisettes song Scratch Your Name was embedded in the final episode of The Sopranos (2007).
For the album launch tour, the band has invited a variety of local rock bands to support them.
The third album from the Noisettes, who have morphed into a duo of singer Shoniwa and guitarist Smith, is called Contact and was released in late August 2012, marking the band's now flawless pop direction, creating recognizable, danceable pop from many sound quotes.
