Simon Henner created the French 79 title, inspired by the cocktail French 75. 
 

In 2014, he self-released his first EP, Angel. Though it received little widespread popularity, it was rated highly and later grew alongside his persona with later releases. Similarly, also in 2014, he released "Between the Buttons", which gained popularity as it was later featured on his debut album. In early 2016, he allotted a 6 month time period between tours to produce Olympic, his first full album, which was released 21 October, 2016.
 

He stated that his intent with the album was to use retro themes, including 70s to 90s synths to create a "club album", to reminisce and to "pay homage to the time I built myself - the 80s and 90s". His influences included film scores composed during his time as a teenager in the 1990s, composed by artists like François de Roubaix and Vladimir Cosma, and artists using synths that sounded "elegant and hyper class", like French artists Daft Punk, Kavinsky, and M83, and German musician Apparat. While some songs do contain vocals, he has said that they were avoided, as to not subtract from the album's atmosphere. 
 

In 2019, Henner released Joshua, following very similar inspirations and concepts. He has said he considers it "the soundtrack" to his life, and that it is in many ways the "chapter two" of Olympic. Joshua features a lone collaborator (who had also featured on Olympic), singer Sarah Rebecca, who he believes writes "soulful and very personal" lyrics that "just works" with the albums themes.