Both Donohue and Prudhomme were born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana; their families were close and as they grew up, the cousins spent plenty of time together listening to and talking about music. Years later, Donohue moved to California to attend college, while Prudhomme stayed in Louisiana; both were involved in musical projects, and would send each other samples of their work by email. In 2009, Donohue was home for winter break, and he and Prudhomme were catching up at a family dinner. With some time to pass before mealtime, the two began working on a song on Prudhomme's digital recording setup; by the end of the evening, the two had written and recorded the song "Falling Asleep," and they realized their collaboration had potential. Donohue soon returned to college, but he and Prudhomme continued to work together from a distance, passing files of loops and melodies back and forth on line. Eventually, Donohue and Prudhomme completed a five song EP, and they submitted their work to a popular music blog, calling the EP Canopy and using the collaborative handle Painted Palms.

Canopy immediately received an enthusiastic response from music fans, including Kevin Barnes from Of Montreal, who put the duo in touch with the established indie label Secretly Canadian. Secretly Canadian gave Canopy a physical release in 2011, and Painted Palms took their music to the stage, touring with Of Montreal, STRFKR, and Braids. As Painted Palms became more than a sideline for Donohue and Prudhomme, the latter relocated to San Francisco, where Donohue was living. However, the two found that their method of working in their own bedroom studios and exchanging material on line generated the best results, so Donohue and Prudhomme kept making music the way they created Canopy. In 2013, Painted Palms struck a deal with Polyvinyl Records, and the label released a single, "Carousel" b/w "Click," and a six-song EP, Nothing Lasts Long. 2014 saw the release of the duo's first full-length album, Forever. For 2015's Horizons, Painted Palms decided to shake up their formula, and instead of working separately in their bedroom studios, they worked together in a traditional recording facility, joined by engineer Eric Broucek, who previously worked with LCD Soundsystem. ~ Mark Deming