In June 2024, Halsey first previewed a new album with the release of "The End"; on the song, the singer revealed how she was informed of her lupus and T cell disorder diagnosis.

[3] The cover artwork of the single depicts Halsey on top of a statue of the French journalist Victor Noir, a site which is supposed to represent fertility.

[7][8] For the album's promotion, Halsey hosted a countdown on social media, in which she would be impersonating a different artist each day for a song they influenced; for "Lonely Is the Muse", she posted a video in tribute to Amy Lee of Evanescence.

[10] "Lonely Is the Muse" was written by Halsey and Stuart Price, and produced by Austin Corona, Wyatt Bernard, and Brandon Buttner.

[13] Critics compared "Lonely Is the Muse" to other Halsey works from the genres, including her collaboration with Bring Me the Horizon titled "¿" (2019), her Birds of Prey soundtrack single "Experiment on Me" (2020), and her previous album If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power (2021), produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails.

[2][15][18] Dork's Dan Harrison said that "Lonely Is the Muse" is "a powerful reminder of Halsey's place in the modern music landscape".

[19] Shaad D'Souza from Pitchfork believed the verse starting with "I've inspired platinum records" is "sharp and witty, and it's also one of the most head-spinning passages in pop [in 2024]".

[20] John Amen of Beats Per Minute said that the song is "a condemnation of the way in which women are still conditioned to fit in, support, inspire, rather than claim their own trajectories".