Eliot, a band formed with her twin sister Allison, Crutchfield released her first music as Waxahatchee as a cassette.

It moves away from the lo-fi sound of previous albums, partly due to the guidance of co-producer John Agnello.

[18] Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork wrote of "Katie Crutchfield’s sharp, gorgeous songwriting", "immersive" band sound and "songs that play like fiery exorcisms" in a review of the album.

[19] Waxahatchee opened Jawbreaker's first Los Angeles shows in 22 years at the Hollywood Palladium on March 10, 2018 and in New York City at Brooklyn Steel on February 27, 2018.

The album was recorded in 2019 at Sonic Ranch in Texas and at Long Pond in Stuyvesant, New York with producer Brad Cook.

[24] In the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Crutchfield performed a series of live concert streams comprising all the songs from one of her studio albums.

She announced the series as a deep dive into her backlist in an attempt to reach out to her fans and also to generate some income after the pandemic caused suspension of all touring.

Crutchfield is sober; her 2020 album Saint Cloud was largely written about her decision to stop drinking alcohol.

[33] In January 2018, indie label Dead Oceans released the single "Farewell Transmission" with "The Dark Don't Hide It" by Morby & Waxahatchee as the b-side, in homage to songwriter Jason Molina.

[34][35] Merge Records published the digital single video Chapel of Pines, on YouTube on July 17, 2018, which led Waxahatchee back to solo work.

[36] Waxahatchee's cover of Kevin Morby's "Downtown's Lights" was featured over the closing credits of episode six of American Rust.