Panic Room were formed out of the ashes of the original line-up of Welsh rock band Karnataka. After the original incarnation of Karnataka imploded in 2004, the various members of the band went their separate ways. Keyboard player Jonathan Edwards was keen to work on new music with old bandmates Anne-Marie Helder (vocals), Paul Davies (guitar) and Gavin Griffiths (drums), and they were soon joined by bassist Alun Vaughan and guitarist Peter Charlton.

Their debut album, The Visionary Position, slowly took shape over the next three years, until recording and mixing was finally completed in late 2007. The process of making the album was slowed by the extra-curricular activities of the various members, notably Helder, who worked extensively in her own right as a solo artist, and also with Fish, Mostly Autumn and Odin Dragonfly, and Griffiths, who was briefly drummer for Mostly Autumn and who remains Fish's drummer, in the studio and on the stage. The album is expected to be released imminently.