The Turning teamed her with producer T Bone Burnett, who had worked with artists Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, and Roy Orbison.

In 1995, Phillips made her film acting debut as the mute terrorist Katya in the Bruce Willis blockbuster Die Hard with a Vengeance.

Phillips made a cameo appearance in the 1997 Wim Wenders film The End of Violence, singing part of the song "Animals on Wheels" from Omnipop.

Phillips also began writing music for and scoring the television series Gilmore Girls, and appeared in the final episode of season six, performing "Taking Pictures" from her Fan Dance album.

In October 2009, Phillips launched The Long Play, a music subscription service offering digital releases without a record label.

In 2012, it was announced that she would be reunited with Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino by scoring music for the short-lived American TV show Bunheads.

[18] Phillips described her next album, Pretty Time Bomb (later renamed Push Any Button), as being "a nostalgic sort of dream of being a pop star in the 60s and early 70s.

For the vinyl release through her website, Phillips created a limited run of unique handmade collages on repurposed vintage LP sleeves sourced from flea markets.

[22] On November 21, 2016, Phillips released an eight-track downloadable EP Human Contact is Never Easy, which included new tracks off her next album World on Sticks.

Phillips reunited with Amy Sherman-Palladino as composer for Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, a revival of the television series, which was released on Netflix on November 25, 2016.