[6] Britpop was universally acclaimed by critics upon its release, who praised the album for its innovative-sounding production with hyperpop elements, creating a genre-bending and nostalgic listening experience.

[8] The early stages of the album's design began in 2020, when Cook lived in Montana with his partner Alaska Reid during COVID-19 lockdowns.

[5] In a press release, Cook explained the album's ethos:[12] "I've joked in the past about this sort of British invasion that goes back to Beatlemania.

"Cook announced the Britpop Roadshow: a series of mini residencies in Los Angeles, London and New York City across April and May to promote the album.

[14] Cook also launched the sites Witchfork, Wandcamp, and Wheatport as an alternate reality project that parodied Pitchfork, Bandcamp, and Beatport.

[6] Cook also began a 3-week residency at NTS Radio on 22 April to explore the album's distinct past, present, and future sections.

[18] Chal Ravens of Pitchfork described Britpop as "a rangy triple album full of shiny synths, inside jokes, and gently sentimental vocal pop" and felt that it "opens a practical portal between Cook's old universe—hard, bright, aggressively contemporary—and a seductively oppositional dimension of folklore, fantasy, fuzz rock, and magic".