Comber began performing as Herriot Row in 2013. The debut Herriot Row album Lesser Stars was produced and engineered by John Vanderslice at Tiny Telephone Studios in San Francisco in July 2014. Vanderslice is known for his "sloppy hi-fi" recording aesthetic, and his production work with the Mountain Goats, Spoon, and Samantha Crain. In September 2014 Radio New Zealand National broadcast an audio diary on the collaboration between Comber and Vanderslice. Lesser Stars was released on September 1, 2017. New Zealand rock critic Nick Bollinger praised the album, calling it "a new peak in Comber's singer-songwriting."
