In a September 2018 interview with Billboard, Mattel announced that she was working on her third studio album entitled Barbara and that it would feature an "electro-folk" sound.

[3][4] Several of Mattel's influences for the finished version of Barbara include The Go-Go's, Blondie, The B-52's, Fountains of Wayne, Weezer, Aimee Mann, and The Click Five.

[7] A new version of "Stranger" featuring Patrick Haggerty from Lavender Country, the original singers of the song, was released as a single on June 12, 2020, as Mattel announced earlier on her platforms.

But as it progresses, it moves from light to dusk into the evening, from first blushing love to wherever we end up after we’ve been tossed around by romance a time or two… or three.

Summing up the record, Maunier concluded that "Trixie Mattel’s great strength as a musician is her ability to marry a deeply irreverent comedic sensibility with a clear respect for the people and places from which she has drawn inspiration".