[1] Released after a five-year hiatus and written following La Havas' break-up, the album was inspired by the life cycle of nature and its ability to thrive, go away, and come back stronger.

Lianne La Havas is a concept album with a song cycle that depicts the stages of a relationship, from early romance to demise.

[2] She took time off from her recording career, entering a new relationship and later dealing with the break-up, although she continued to tour in the period between albums.

[4] The album's process took La Havas five years, something she had not planned for, stating "to make a complete piece of work that meant something that had a story just took a little bit of time".

La Havas wanted the album to follow the journey of a seasonal flower, one that "blooms, thrives, goes away, and comes back even stronger.

[7]By October 2019, La Havas had written all ten tracks and by December the album's recording had been completed.

[10] To call it soul music would be reductive; too many black artists have hastily been assigned the label just for the color of their skin, a restrictive tendency that La Havas herself has railed against.

The album is a predominantly neo-soul album, however Sophia Ordaz of Slant Magazine states "La Havas's style remains tricky to pin down, existing somewhere in the nexus of the soulful warmth of Corinne Bailey Rae, the confessional lyricism of Amy Winehouse, and the folky melodicism of Joni Mitchell.

Jenessa Williams of the NME notes that Liana La Havas is "focused around a primary nucleus of intimate vocals, nimble guitar-work and driving percussion.

[12] "Sour Flower" is a seven-minute song that features folk and art-rock influences and was noted by Michael Cragg from The Observer as "recalls Rainbows-era Radiohead".

In late February La Havas sang at the Barbican in London alongside the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Jules Buckley.

The homemade video featured La Havas accompanied by her string guitar whilst performing "Bittersweet" and "Paper Thin".

"[27] NME's Jenessa Williams similarly praised the album's composition observing that "‘Lianne La Havas’ is a far more cohesive record than any of its predecessors, focused around a primary nucleus of intimate vocals, nimble guitar-work and driving percussion.

"[12] Michael Cragg from The Observer summarised the album saying "While there are still nods to the polite dinner-party soundtrack feel of her early work – the string-drenched Courage, for example – this is a much bolder statement of intent.

Neil McCormick from The Daily Telegraph called the album a "jazzy, soulful, understated account of breakup and recovery, that shimmers like a gorgeous summer groove and lets La Havas's tender singing and cryptic lyrics carry the bittersweet emotion.

"[11] Andy Kellman made a similar comparison in the review for AllMusic, claiming that "La Havas' lithe voice forms a tighter bond with the lyrics, and her gently ringing guitar rarely leaves her hands.

"[25] Rachel Aroesti from Q was more critical and believed "there's a wobbly quality to La Havas's toplines that means they can get lost in the more densely instrumented tracks, yet the sparser finger-picked guitar numbers give her songwriting space to shine.