Produced over an eight-year period, LoveLaws style deviates from the music she created as a member of the indie rock band Warpaint and features a more electronic sound influenced by downtempo and trip hop.
Wayman only performed a small number of dates in the U.S. and England in support of LoveLaws' release, including appearances at Amoeba Music and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.
[8][9] She subsequently began learning to use the digital audio workstation Logic Pro by Apple, utilizing the application's drum machines and creating loops.
[8] Since Wayman was not signed to a record label as a solo artist, she was "free to experiment in whichever direction [she] wanted to" with her initial ideas for LoveLaws, as there was no release deadline to meet.
A multi-instrumentalist, Wayman performed several instruments on the album, including guitar, bass, synthesizers, samplers, piano, electric organ and both acoustic and digital drums.
[16] In particular, Wayman has cited the use of soundscapes by trip hop bands Portishead and Massive Attack as an influence on the album's sound,[17] as well as soul artists Al Green and Sade,[18] and the Icelandic musician Björk.
[17][19] Wayman dubbed the album's genre as "bedroom folk"[20] while several publications have described it as downtempo,[1][14] trip hop,[2][10] electronica,[3][12] and art pop.
However, during the process of "polishing ideas" for the final versions, she reworked several lyrics,[16] approaching them by "wondering about … how to reconcile these different aspects of my life that don't necessarily go together".
[26] In further promotion of the album, Wayman performed online sessions for Baeble Music in the US,[16] Revista Martin in Mexico,[27] and Matches Fashion in England between March and October 2018.
[37] Clash writer Josh Gray praised LoveLaws as "refreshingly honest"—in particular its lyrical "frankness" and "intimacy"—but criticized the album as "more of a messy entry scrawled across the pages of a personal diary than it is a pristine, thought-out postcard".
Gray summarized that "occasionally [the album's] composition feels scrappy or unfinished, but this doesn’t particularly mar the experience of listening to it", rating it seven out of ten.
[39] In a four-out-of-five-star review for DIY, Lisa Wright drew comparisons to Warpaint's releases and said LoveLaws "feel familiar yet riddled with something slightly sadder", concluding that the album was "an even more personal exploration of [Wayman's] affective talents.
[42] Loud and Quiet reviewer Tristan Gatward called LoveLaws "a resounding and devastating collection of songs about motherhood, loneliness and romance in an unromantic age" and "lyrically astute pop with shattering confessionalism", ultimately rating it eight out of ten.
She referred to Wayman's songwriting as having a "slippery, shimmering quality", selecting "I've Been Fine", "Dram", "Safe" and "Too Sweet" as highlights from the album.
[46] In a three-out-of-five-star review for American Songwriter, Hal Horowitz noted the album's preference for "atmospheric programmed beats, synths, piano and bass" over Wayman's usual use of guitar, adding that the resulting sound was "often throbbing, sensual … augmented by suggestive lyrics."
Though further praising the album's "personal and riveting" lyrics and "enduring, durable and somewhat ageless vibe", Horowitz claimed LoveLaws "seems caught in a time warp of sorts" due to its "melodramatic tendencies" and "often creepy robot-on-narcotics sound".
[12] Q, in another three-out-of-five-star review, was similarly critical and said LoveLaws "feels like an act of introspection that's gone too far, one that might have benefited from a breath of fresh air, a trip outside its head.