Founded in 2017, Belladon's original lineup featured Heather Nation (Meadow), Aimee Jacobs (Strawberry Moons, Burning of Rome), Alex Bravo (Moans), Billy Petty (Fistfights With Wolves), and Anastasya Karol. They were nominated Best New Artist at the San Diego Music Awards.

A debut double EP, Dreaming/Dreading was tracked and mixed by Ben Moore at Singing Serpent. "We divided our songs into two categories to make our EP," says Aimee Jacobs. "One side is called Dreaming and the other Dreading. We all agreed that we could try to make the album sound like this smooth transition between moods, or we could bring out really dramatic shifts the band has gone through by separating the songs in a specific way." After the EP's release in January 2020, Anastasya Karol left the group.