Habitants was founded in 2015 by René Rutten (The Gathering) and Gema Perèz. They found Anne van den Hoogen (Rosemary & Garlic) to match their dark film noir sound with airy clear vocals. Along the way Mirte Heutmekers (bass) and Jerôme Miedendorp de Bie (Drive By Wire, drums) were invited to complete the band.
Trough an Indie-gogo campaign, promoted with their first song Meraki, the band raised the full funding for their debut album One Self (2018). The band made it clear they wanted to make an album to ‘escape the world.'
Press quotes on One Self:
"Habitants managed to deliver a very powerful and emotional debut." – Ultimate Guitar (USA)
“Van een ongekende, pakkende en diepgravende schoonheid. Een droomdebuut!” - Subjectivisten (NL)
“One Self is er een om stil van te worden." - Metalfan.nl (NL)
“One Self is an honest, heartbreaking beautiful work in both letters and composition” – Rockaxis (Chile)
“Magnifique!” - L'Indépendant (F)