Irene grew into a full scale band quite spontaneously in 2005. The members are all friends from the local pub in Göteborg, Sweden. Some songs that Tobias Isaksson (aka Bobby) had written just couldn't wait to be performed live. The people that did the first show had so much fun that they wanted to stick around. By the autumn of 2005 Irene was an octet with semi-permanent members. Shortly after that the record label Labrador signed the band.

A critically acclaimed debut album called Apple Bay was released in 2006. It was an upbeat, super-short, 24 minute tribute to the 60's sound with most instruments recorded live. Apple Bay has been licensed in The USA, Australia, Thailand and Taiwan and distributed via Labrador's associates in countries all over the world. In the spring 2007 tours of England, France, Spain and Germany made Irene aspire to take their music to a new level. The result was an almost perfectly executed, timeless pop trip of 27 minutes titled Long Gone Since Last Summer. Although the album is due in Sweden less than one year after the debut it displays a band with brand new qualities. The members of Irene remain beach crooners, lounge punks and next door nice guys.