Fetch the Bolt Cutters

Apple began conceiving the album after The Idler Wheel... in 2012. She began rehearsals with Sebastian Steinberg, Amy Aileen Wood and Davíd Garza in February 2015 in her Venice Beach house, using home-made percussive objects and chanting as they marched around the house. In July they spent three weeks at the Sonic Ranch studio in Texas, where most of Relay, Ladies, Cosmonauts and On I Go were recorded, then worked at Stanley Recordings before returning to the house. She likened it to the womb where she developed into an adult and said the house was an instrument and the microphone. Further sessions for Newspaper and Heavy Balloon took place at the engineer Dave Way's Waystation.

Most of the home recording was done in GarageBand. Apple said she did not know how to edit or shorten a take, so each track is one long take and any mistake had to be played over and absorbed. She called the results percussion orchestras, notably on Newspaper and the title track. The percussion includes a metal butterfly and the bones of her dog Janet. Pitchfork noted that at least five dogs are credited: Mercy, Maddie, Leo, Little and Alfie. She said the main theme was not being afraid to speak, and later that it is about breaking out of whatever prison you have allowed yourself to live in. Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that it explores "both past and present injuries: bullying, sexual assault, destructive mind games, romantic debacles". Apple has attributed the prominent percussion to a childhood habit of walking rhythmically to a strict tempo, which she developed as part of her obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Epic had planned an October release. Apple pushed to put it out in April, for listeners in isolation during the pandemic and to avoid stressful press commitments. It debuted at four on the Billboard 200 with 44,000 equivalent units and at number one on the Top Album Sales, Top Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums charts. Metacritic gave it 98 from 28 reviews. Pitchfork gave it a perfect score, and Pelly called it an unyielding masterpiece. Barton gave it five stars in the Guardian. It won the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album at the 63rd ceremony, which Apple did not attend, and Shameika won Best Rock Performance. Davíd Garza designed the cover from a photograph Apple had taken of herself.