Originally from New Jersey, and currently based in Los Angeles, Van Etten's music is noted for its indie rock aesthetic and personal lyrical content.

As an actress, Van Etten starred as Rachel in both series of the Netflix mystery drama The OA (2016–2019), and has appeared in the feature films Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020) and How It Ends (2021).

With no set band at the time, Van Etten called on friends Jeffrey Kish, Dave Hartley, Jessica Larrabee, and Andy LaPlant of She Keeps Bees, Cat Martino, Meg Baird, Jim Callan, and Brian Christinzio.

NPR described it as possessing "a fuller sound compared to the super-spare arrangements on her first two self-produced albums, but epic still feels incredibly intimate, with lots of room to breathe and unfold.

The album features musicians Doug Keith, Thomas Bartlett, Bryan Devendorf, Bryce Dessner, Matt Barrick, Rob Moose, Julianna Barwick, Peter Silberman, Logan Coale, Clarice Jensen, Ben Lanz, Zach Condon, and Jenn Wasner.

[15] The record features musicians Zeke Hutchins, Doug Keith, Heather Woods Broderick, Dave Hartley, Adam Granduciel, Marisa Anderson, Stuart D. Bogie, Mickey Free, Mary Lattimore, Little Isidor, Jacob Morris, Torres' Mackenzie Scott, Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg, Lower Dens' Jana Hunter, and Efterklang touring member Peter Broderick.

[17][2] Van Etten composed the score for the film Strange Weather, working on the music in a practice space she shared with Michael Cera.

[18] Remind Me Tomorrow was a departure from Van Etten's previous guitar-focused work, featuring more synthesizers, drums, and experimental sounds.

[19] The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 scuttled those plans, and during the resulting lockdowns Van Etten wrote songs that focused on her new life as well as the wider political landscape and "collective trauma" people were experiencing.

[19] Van Etten played bass and sang harmony as the three surviving members of Fountains of Wayne performed in a televised benefit with various New Jersey-affiliated musicians to raise funds for COVID-19 relief in April 2020.

[21] In October 2020, Van Etten made a song titled "Let Go" for the documentary, Feels Good Man, directed by Arthur Jones about Matt Furie, the creator of Pepe the Frog.

[31] Music journalists of The Guardian, Rolling Stone and The Independent wrote that Van Etten's voice and singing style sometimes evoked Siouxsie Sioux's.

"[8] NPR Music asserts: "Her songs are heartfelt without being overly earnest; her poetry is plainspoken but not overt, and her elegant voice is wrapped in enough rasp and sorrow to keep from sounding too pure or confident.

"[28] Van Etten has also cited Scott Walker, Cocteau Twins, Rowland S. Howard, Joy Division, Roy Orbison, and Celine Dion as some of her musical influences.

[34] In a 2020 interview, when asked about a few albums that mean the most to her, she named John Cale's Fear, Fleetwood Mac's Tusk, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' No More Shall We Part.