The project Spain was born at University of Irvine when bassist Josh Haden, the son of Charlie Haden and brother of half of That Dog's line-up, and previous punk-rocker in Treacherous Jaywalkers, joined forces with guitarist Ken Boudakian. A couple of singles, I Lied (Nathanus, 1994) and Dreaming Of Love, revelead their slow-motion melodies in a vein not too different from Galaxie 500.
The quartet on The Blue Moods Of Spain (Restless, 1995) is already a consummate builder of slow, atmospheric tracks. The band has matured beyond the song format and stretches out with lengthy, gloomy, stationary tone poems that borrow the pace and the mood from slo-core (Seam, Codeine, Low) and bend it to a more trascendent and more existential (as in "noir") attitude. World of Blue (14 minutes) is the tour de force, but the band is capable also of humbler ditties like Spiritual and Ten Nights.

Surrendering a bit of that intellectual/erudite attitude, She Haunts My Dreams (Restless, 1999) is a more folkish affair that leans towards the introverted, doleful ballads of the Red House Painters and American Music Club.

Spirituals (Ryko, 2003) is a career retrospective of Spain. On I Believe (Restless, 2001) Josh Haden has matured and his pensive, mournful and majestic ballads no longer simply recycle inner pain. Mostly, they compose an almost sacred offering to love (She Haunts My Dreams, Born To Love Her, Mary, You Were Meant For Me), stylistically steeped in the tradition of country and folk music. The closing Long Time Ago is the philosophical piece here, giving universal meaning to his romantic distress. Haden still refrains from abusing of jazz, so that only Make Your Body Move and Oh That Feeling betray his roots.

Josh Haden's Devoted (2007) was a languid exercise in smooth pop-jazz. A decade later Haden returned with World of Blue I (2016).