Diamandis took a hiatus after she concluded touring in support of her third studio album Froot (2015) with plans of retiring from music.

The album was supported by five singles, all of which were supplemented by music videos: "Handmade Heaven", "Superstar", "Orange Trees", "To Be Human", and "Karma".

The album was announced alongside a tour, which visited the US, Canada, and Europe, which began in April 2019 and concluded in November.

[5] After the concluding the Neon Nature Tour in promotion of her third studio album Froot (2015), Diamandis began writing sessions in Los Angeles for her next record, despite initially dismissing the idea of making a follow-up.

[7] Diamandis cited her struggles with depression and stress due the loss of her aunt and her grandmother during promotion for Froot as the main reasons of her near retirement.

[11] Three months after finishing the course, Diamandis returned to the studio and continue with the songwriting of her fourth album from early 2017 to summer 2018.

[11] Some of the songs made before her break were initially instrumented only by piano but were reworked after Diamandis "[fell] back in love with them.

[15] To mark a new stage in her career, Diamandis announced via Twitter in 2018 that she would be dropping her "and the Diamonds" moniker to release music as "Marina" (stylised in all caps), explaining that "It took me well over a year to figure out that a lot of my identity was tied up in who I was as an artist... and there wasn't much left of who I was.

"[16] In November 2018, a second collaboration with Clean Bandit and Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi, "Baby", was released,[17] peaking at number 15 in the UK.

[20] In an interview in June 2019, Diamandis spoke about the conception of the title and stated, "I think [Love + Fear] can both be motivating forces...

"[31] Love + Fear opens with "Handmade Heaven", which was described as a musical departure from "the bubblegum pop excess and cheekiness" of Diamandis' first three albums.

[32] During a track-by-track interview for Love + Fear with Apple Music, she revealed that climate change served as a main source of inspiration for the track.

[12] During the refrain, she sings alongside several layers of her own vocals, creating a choir-sounding effect; she coos: "In this handmade heaven, I come alive / Blue birds forever, colour the sky".

[33] "Superstar" is a synth-pop and electro track that was compared to the sound of Diamandis' second studio album Electra Heart (2012).

[34][35] Lake Schatz from Consequence of Sound described her vocals on the track as "almost operatic" and noted the understated presence of a piano.

[36] The singer referred to "Superstar" a "true love song" that "celebrates the hard work that goes into a good relationship".

[39] Regarding "Karma", she stated that the song's lyrical content was subconsciously inspired by the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases and the consequential viral response that came with the Me Too movement.

Diamandis said that the initial idea for the song's subject matter came from a discussion she previously had with her producers regarding various "music industry individuals that were falling from grace.

'"[40] Brittany Spanos from Rolling Stone felt like Diamandis was describing misogyny in the lyrics, which she noted as a common theme explored on the Fear portion of the album.

The Love + Fear Tour ran from 29 April to 18 November 2019 and saw Marina play across the United Kingdom, North America, and Europe.