Bell Orchestre is a six-piece instrumental band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In late 2003, they recorded their first album, at the same time and in the same studio that Arcade Fire recorded Funeral. However, Arcade Fire's popularity was just beginning to break when they asked Bell Orchestre to tour with them in the fall of 2005, delaying the release of their album. Regarding finishing the album, Bell Orchestre said: "We regrouped and we did this residency at an arts center in Canada in the mountains. We actually finished [the record] there, we did a few overdubs and went home and sequenced it and mastered it."

Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light was finally released in 2005. In March 2006, Bell Orchestre launched a tour of Europe and the US to promote the album.