Intended to be "playful and fun," it is a synth-pop song that contains elements of disco, funk, hip pop, house and 1980s music.

"Future Nostalgia" was released for digital download and streaming on 13 December 2019 through Warner Records as the album's promotional single.

An accompanying lyric video premiered on YouTube three days later, and it features Lipa dancing and using a golf club in a retro house.

"Future Nostalgia" was written by Dua Lipa, alongside Clarence Coffee Jr. and the song's producer Jeff Bhasker.

After they had written half of "Future Nostalgia", the two of them got writer's block, which lead to Lipa calling Clarence Coffee Jr to help them.

Mixing was handled by Josh Gudwin at Henson Studios in Hollywood and the mastering was done by Chris Gehringer at Sterling Sound in Edgewater, New Jersey.

[10] "Future Nostalgia" has a modern electronic production,[12] consisting of 1980s-funk and grunge bass-popping,[13][14] electroclash synths,[15] tinkering keys,[14] a jazz piano progression,[16] 1980s disco beats[17][18] and brass instrumentation.

[13][18] She has her eyes set on changing the game and shows that she has her sights much higher than just re-creating the radio enormity of her 2017 single "New Rules".

In the video, Lipa dances and drinks alcohol around the house, wearing a white shirt and underwear, as well as hitting wine glasses with a golf club on the roof.

Trey Alston from MTV gave the song a positive review, stating that it is "the perfect balance of the past and what lies ahead".

[18] Robin Murray of Clash called the song "bold" and "colourful" as well as writing "there's an 80s bounce in its synth nostalgia, channelling amid the glitz of Los Angeles".

[29] Nick Malone for PopMatters wrote a positive review, saying Lipa "masters a tricky balancing act between sassy and irritating on its talk-rapped verses," and that she "comes off stylish and light-hearted.

Ahlgrim went on to state that the song "definitely doesn't work as a single" but it is "a bold statement of purpose" and "a sharp combination of cheeky, challenging, and confident".

[48] Billboard's Bianca Gracie viewed "Future Nostalgia" as "a flirty wink [...] that reflects the singer's confident nature".

[21] Jason Lipshutz of the same magazine thought that it probably would not be successful at top 40 radio and praised Lipa's "penchant for leveling up her vocals into a top-notch hook".

"[2] In a separate Rolling Stone review, Brittany Spanos wrote that the song has "nonsensical but smartly delivered one-liners" and compared it to the music of Daft Punk.

[70] In 2021, the song was awarded a gold certification from the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry (ZPAV) for selling 25,000 track-equivalent units in Poland.