Formed in London in 2013, Ephemerals are led by songwriter and bandleader Hillman Mondegreen and singer Wolfgang Valbrun. Mondegreen had previously worked with Hannah Williams & the Tastemakers, while Valbrun was born and raised in New York before moving to Paris at 14. The group brings together musicians with backgrounds in soul, jazz and Afrobeat, including players associated with Keke Mokoro, Gene Dudley Group, Dakhla, Kalakuta Millionaires, and Marvelous & Bombs. Their music draws on soul, funk, jazz and psychedelia. The band’s first album, Nothin Is Easy, arrived in 2014, and they released the single Easy Ain't Nothin on Jalapeno Records that year.
Ephemerals followed with the album Chasin Ghosts in 2015 and the Life Is Good EP the same year. Their 2017 album Egg Tooth came after the singles Astraea (Remixes) and In and Out, both released that year; Astraea (Remixes) was a single on Jalapeno Records. In 2019, the group put out the singles Blur and Electricity, each on the label and featuring Wolfgang Valbrun. Ephemerals also issued the single Call It What You Want, backed by The Oligarch, for a 7-inch release. The group’s song “You Made Us Change” was reworked by French dance artist Kungs.
In 2020, Ephemerals released The Third Eye, their fourth album, through Jalapeno Records. The record explored transformation and drew on the band’s combination of funk, soul and psychedelia. The same year, Ephemerals collaborated with Kungs on “I Feel So Bad”.