In a press release she said "I didn’t realize I was making a record at first — it was more just for our own sanity, getting time together to play music and screw around in the studio.

"I love collaborating with people, and had gotten in the flow of doing that ever since my Nashville days with The Wreckers, being a part of a songwriting community.

"[4] During the writing process for the album Branch found inspiration in a lyric book by David Berman from the Silver Jews.

"[7] The cover art for the album is a photograph that was captured by James Carney in 1970 during his time at Cape Cod Beach.

[12] In a positive review from That Music Magazine, Noelle Simeon wrote that "Branch can go deep into her feelings.

"[16] Pete Tosiello of Pitchfork was more critical, writing that "the album isn’t bold enough to commit in any one direction, offsetting whispery synth-pop with saccharine country ballads.

The dressed-up guitars range from staticky to syrupy; the arrangements meander into melodramatic bridges", continuing by calling the instrumentation "bewildering" and the record a "mishmash" overall.

"[13] Ben Hogwood of musicOMH concurred, writing that The Trouble with Fever "plots a relatively safe musical course amid turbulent personal life events".