Clutterbuck and Hatcher met while at university and started making music together under the name of Honne—a Japanese word (本音) meaning "true feelings"—in late 2014. Honne's musical style has been described as "futuristic soul destined to re-invent babymaking music" by The Telegraph. The band released their debut single "Warm on a Cold Night" in September 2014 via Super Recordings. They followed up with their second EP All in the Value in November 2014, and made their live debut at the Sebright Arms on the same day.

Following the release of Coastal Love on 1 May, the band played a sold out headline gig at The Laundry in London and performed on the BBC Introducing stage at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend 2015 in Norwich.

On 22 July 2016, Honne released their first full-length album, Warm on a Cold Night. The album cover features an image taken on the night of one of their London shows.[10] The album achieved huge popularity and success internationally, particularly in Asia, where the album has gone multi-platinum in South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia.

The album continued to build on their success, again going multi-platinum or gold in multiple territories.

On 3 July 2020, during the global coronavirus pandemic, Honne released the mixtape No Song Without You.