Patrick Wolf was born in St Thomas' Hospital, South London, into a creative family. He started his musical education with violin lessons and church choirs and made his first theremin at age eleven, and first began recording songs with his violin, voice, and car boot sale organs on a four-track tape recorder at age twelve. At fourteen, he joined and performed with pop art collective Minty. Two years later, he dropped his A-Levels and left home. During this period, Wolf earned money from busking in a string quartet and formed a group called 'Maison Crimineaux', a noisy trio built on destructive ethics around white noise and pop music. He also continued to write and record his own material. A Maison Crimineaux gig in Paris was attended by electronic maestro Kristian Robinson (aka Capitol K), who would then go on to release Wolf's debut album Lycanthropy. Wolf's ongoing writing and recordings brought him to the attention of Fat Cat Records, who provided him with an Atari computer and a mixing console. During the recording of Lycanthropy, Wolf studied composition at Trinity College of Music for one year. Lycanthropy was released in the summer of 2003. The Germany-based Tomlab later released the album for United States of America and Europe. His second album of 2005, Wind in the Wires, which was inspired by Patrick's Cornish and Irish roots, was released on the same label and likewise met with critical acclaim. The single 'Tristan', based on the Cornish legend, Tristram of Lyonesse, received significant attention from critics and remains a fan favourite. Following the success of Wind in the Wires, Wolf signed a record deal with Loog in 2005 and began recording his third album, The Magic Position, which featured collaborations with Marianne Faithfull and Edward Larrikin of Larrikin Love. Its official release on 26 February met with critical acclaim, and gained a degree of commercial success due to the relative accessibility compared to his previous works. The Magic Position was released in the United States on Low Altitude Records on 1 May 2007. Wolf promoted the album with a concert tour in North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia, culminating in two sold out nights at London's Shepherds Bush Empire. Both of these shows, which were shot and directed by photographer Brantley Gutierrez, are in development to be shown on a Virgin channel and then released on DVD. Wolf began work on his next album, initially titled Battle, immediately after The Magic Position tour ended. The album was originally conceived as a political album. The focus then shifted to the depression experienced by Wolf during the tour. However, before entering the studio, he fell in love, changing the direction of the album again, and eventually providing enough material for two releases. On 12 February 2009, Wolf announced that the two discs would be titled The Bachelor and The Conqueror. The Bachelor's first single, "Vulture", was released on 2 April 2009, on vinyl and digital download. The b-sides include new song, "The Tinderbox", and remixes of the title track. The Bachelor was released on 1 June 2009, while the second single from the album, "Hard Times", was released on 6 July 2009. The Conqueror is due to be released in 2010.