In January 2017, following the album's release and the results of the 2016 United States presidential election, Friedberger travelled to Greece to "reconnect with her heritage", being half-Greek, and experience the Greek music world.
[4] While in Athens, on the advice of Σtella, a Greek musician, Friedberger visited a goth nightclub named Rebound, which ultimately became the namesake for her fourth studio album.
[1][8] Whereas Friedberger's previous albums employed a live band, much of Rebound is built on a keyboard, drawing comparisons to 1980s pop.
[10] The album drew stylistic comparisons to Julia Holter, Carly Simon,[11] Laurie Anderson, Yellow Magic Orchestra,[12] and Stereolab.
[12] "In Between Stars," which includes synthesizer chords and "a central sing-song refrain", has been described as initially sounding like a "pop anthem", but ultimately showing itself to be one of the album's "stranger compositions", eventually incorporating a distorted guitar and hand-claps.
[9] Friedberger called the song her "homage to dark '80s pop", with The Guardian singling out the Eurythmics and Berlin as possible influences.
[6] In the song, Friedberger compares her difficulty in following the plot of Iris Murdoch's novel The Nice and the Good to the disorientation "of our collective moral compass after the 2016 election".
[6] It includes the lyric "When the pain ended I won a prize"; Bromwich argued that the line could be interpreted either literally or figuratively.
"[5] Friedberger told Consequence of Sound that the song, in particular the line about the boyfriend and girlfriend, was inspired by an Athenian friend who was "really struggling" to decide whether she wanted to have children and lead a conventional life, or to continue her work as an experimental actress.
[19] "In Between Stars" was described as "forlorn-sounding" and suggesting "clouded judgment" on the part of Friedberger, with the lines "I don't know how I've come to see the world/Exclusively through your eyes/Everything I buy and eat and do with you in mind" being singled out by numerous critics as notable.
[11] Friedberger told Consequence of Sound that the song's lyrics were inspired partly by a book of Greek mythology she'd received as a gift.
[7] She stated that she had initially planned to write the song as if it were for a fake television show akin to Twin Peaks or Black Mirror, but that she also wanted to include details specific to Rebound.
[7] Friedberger told Consequence of Sound that the line "I'll go to ZZ Top and lose my mind" was taken from an exchange with a friend in Texas who was a big fan of the group.
[19] The song also includes the lyric "I proposed to a woman for a man last night",[9][6] which Bromwich considered to be a continuation of the Grecian boyfriend and Italian girlfriend theme examined in "Everything".
[3][11][20] On March 7, 2018, Friedberger premiered the official music video for the single; she had filmed it herself, and enlisted videographer Danny Perez to edit it.
[27] The video, which was shot in black-and-white and directed by Scott Jacobson, depicts Friedberger engaging in "self-care rituals," including going for a morning jog, climbing a mountain, swimming, and receiving a visit from a "no-touch" spiritual healer.
[31] The Skinny awarded the album four out of five stars; critic Chris Ogden singled out "Everything", "Make Me a Song" and "Nice to Be Nowhere" as highlights, praised her "quirky songwriting", and concluded that Friedberger "remains one of indie rock's masters".