Lipa enlisted writers and producers including Jeff Bhasker, Ian Kirkpatrick, Stuart Price, the Monsters & Strangerz, and Koz to create a "nostalgic" pop and disco record containing influences from dance-pop and electronic music.

She has super powers; she's incredible.The cover artwork of Future Nostalgia features Lipa in a Googie-esque retro vehicle, one that could be seen during the 1950s-themed restaurant scene in Pulp Fiction (1994).

[31] She wanted to create a record with the nostalgic memories of her childhood and the music her parents listened to and put a modern spin on it with futuristic elements, which is why she ultimately went with the title.

[29] She challenged herself to break out of her comfort zone to make music that could sit alongside her favourite classic pop songs, being inspired by Gwen Stefani, Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Moloko, Blondie, and Outkast.

[49] Future Nostalgia is a dance-pop,[50] electropop,[51] nu-disco,[52] pop-funk,[53] and synth-pop record,[54] with several 1980s and retrofuturism tropes,[55][56] and elements of Eurodance,[57] hi-NRG,[58] house,[59] techno,[60] and R&B.

[61] Described by Lipa as a "nostalgic" pop record that "feels like a dancercise class," she took inspiration from the music of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s to create a sound that felt familiar and brand-new at the same time.

[71] The album has themes of the transformative nature of romance,[72] sex, inequality, empowerment,[73] self-possession, the exploration of vulnerability,[59] falling in love, breaking up,[74] equality, hope,[75] flirtation and affection.

[71] Critics note similarities between the tracks on Future Nostalgia and the works of Blondie,[73] Chic,[76] Daft Punk,[69] Lady Gaga,[70] Gloria Gaynor,[72] Debbie Harry,[77] Jamiroquai,[73] Madonna (Confessions on a Dance Floor, 2005), Kylie Minogue (Fever, 2001),[78] Moloko,[76] Olivia Newton-John, No Doubt,[77] Outkast,[73] Prince, and Nile Rodgers.

[88] In the song, Lipa name-drops its producer, Jeff Bhasker, and American architect, John Lautner, while vocally making use of falsetto and spoken word deliveries.

[57][90] The following track and lead single, "Don't Start Now", has empowerment themes and sees Lipa addressing an ex-lover about moving on from a relationship, using direct bullet point instructions.

[75][87][89][103] Driven by a funk bass, glitter gel noises and a drum line embody the production, whilst Lipa contributes vocals with hopeful tones.

[67][105] A power pop and synth-pop song,[106][107] it includes dance-rock, dark wave, and Italo disco elements,[72][108][109] while Lipa's lower register vocal performance uses deadpan,[110][111] spoken word,[60] belts,[112] and chants.

[67][87] Lipa describes "Break My Heart" as a "celebration of vulnerability," seeing her question whether a new love will leave her broken-hearted, with lyrics comparing it to the COVID-19 pandemic's social distancing measures.

[73][120][135] It interpolates rhythm guitar melody from "Need You Tonight" (1987) by INXS,[119] alongside Europop and dance beats, disco violins, and a techno-adjacent bassline as the production.

[69][72][98][108] Its production uses off-kilter jazz piano plinking,[60][100][112] gum-popping sound effects, and lo-fi keys,[77][140] with fairy-like backing vocal harmonies, and Lipa contributing high octave whispers.

[82][98][100][129] Lipa makes use of belting and chanting,[118][128] over a melodramatic melody, disco beats, layered choral arrangements, marching band drums, and orchestral strings.

[151] "Break My Heart" received virtual performances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Big Brother Brasil 20, and Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020.

[180][181][182][183] The visual is based on a Venn diagram by Swiss artist duo Peter Fischli and David Weiss from their series of works Order and Cleanliness (1981), and features Lipa and a group of dancers dancing in a warehouse, while incorporating anime-inspired animation.

[184][185] The song was further promoted with the release of a 1980s-inspired workout video, directed by Daniel Carberry, and featuring Lipa and the class members leading viewers through fitness routines.

[216] "Fever" with Belgian singer Angèle was released on 29 October 2020 as the sixth single exclusively in France and Belgium promoting the French edition of Future Nostalgia.

The song was accompanied by a lyric video, set in a retro 1960s house on a small lake, where Lipa dances, drinks alcohol and hits golf balls.

[228] In April 2020, she confirmed Future Nostalgia would receive a deluxe reissue and further teased it while serving as a guest Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen the following month.

[72] Michael Cragg of Crack summarised the album as "packed with full-throttle choruses, supple melodies and lashings of attitude, Future Nostalgia is a neon-hued sound of one of the world's biggest pop stars smashing it out of the park".

[74] In his "Consumer Guide" column, Robert Christgau gave the album a three-star honorable mention and called it an "Olivia Newton-John tribute as dance smash as what-me-despair placebo, that deserves props for adding two keepers to that canon", namely the title track and "Good in Bed".

[248] Future Nostalgia placed in the top ten of the year-end lists of several publications, including being viewed as 2020's best album by Entertainment.ie,[249] Gaffa,[250] GQ,[251] People,[252] Slate[253] and Vogue India.

[274] In October 2021, the BBC's music correspondent Mark Savage noted that Future Nostalgia was the only British album released since the start of 2020 to have been certified Platinum by the BPI.

[284] After the release of its reissue The Moonlight Edition in February 2021, the album surged back at number seven on the Billboard 200, reaching the top 10 for the first time in 10 months with 32,000 album-equivalent units earned, increasing by 58% compared to the previous week.

[288] According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), Future Nostalgia was the tenth most successful album of 2020 worldwide, with 3.3 million album-equivalent units sold.

She was also one of the UK's most-played artist in 2020 as the album "proved to be the soundtrack to many people's quarantine, with its uplifting disco anthems providing the perfect antidote to isolation".

[299][300] Upon the release of Drake's Honestly, Nevermind and Beyoncé's Renaissance, both in 2022, some publications cited Future Nostalgia as the predictor of a house music revival, along with Lady Gaga's Chromatica.