A British band led by longtime contributors to England's indie rock and twee scenes, the Catenary Wires established a sparer blend of sweet and melancholy indie pop after moving out of the city to more sylvan territory in 2014. The project made its debut a year later with Red Red Skies. Named for symbolic rough seas along the coast of Southern England, their third album, Birling Gap, arrived in 2021.

Former members of bands including Heavenly, Marine Research, and Sportique, Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey had already been working as touring musicians for over two decades when their group Tender Trap went on hiatus in 2014. The couple moved from London to the small town of Tenterden with no serious plans to continue making music. Before long, however, they had begun writing a series of quiet, melancholic songs on their daughter's small 3/4-scale acoustic guitar. On a whim, they agreed to perform as a duo in Bristol at a gig celebrating Sarah Records, a now-defunct indie pop label they'd previously been involved with. Inspired by their reception, they decided to carry on and named their new band the Catenary Wires after the chain of curves made by suspended overhead electrical wires. They released a single, "Intravenous," in early 2015, then their debut mini-album, Red Red Skies, on Spanish indie Elefant Records later that same year.

They had another batch of songs ready to record in rural Kent in 2018, this time using additional instruments, such as harmonium and brass. The resulting Til the Morning was produced by Andy Lewis (Spearmint, Pimlico) and released on Tapete Records in 2019. With Lewis on board as an official member alongside Fletcher, Pursey, Fay Hallam, and Ian Button, the Catenary Wires returned with Birling Gap in 2021. Also recorded in Kent, with Lewis again producing, it was issued on Fletcher and Pursey's label Skep Wax in partnership with Shelflife. ~ Timothy Monger & Marcy Donelson, Rovi