A friend of mine interpreted the title, I Only Want to Live Once, as a negative, when in reality I meant for it to highlight my lust for life.

You're only given one walk around the block and I felt like, a lot of songs that I've put out prior to this and before I fell in love, I was singing about that shit all the time.

[5] Songs from I Only Want to Live Once were written by O'Callaghan, while production handled by Matt Keller and was recorded in nine days.

[6] O'Callaghan called the song, "an open letter" to his past, with a sound most fans wouldn't expect.

[8] The third single, "Drive" was released on January 15, 2021, with a music video directed by Lupe Bustos premiering the same day.

Sam DeVotta of idobi Radio stated, "Each track brings its own unique sound, blending together to paint a portrait of what it's like to be human, with all our joys and sorrows and every feeling in between."