"Love Ballad" is a pop song with drum instrumentation; its lyrics detail the protagonist's exaggerated ways of showing affection to a romantic partner.

The song drew the attention of music blogs and received positive reviews from some critics but failed to chart anywhere.

It shows the singer covered in black paint and performing acrobatics in the middle of a road and on a football field.

Lo performed the track several times, including on the Swedish campaign Musikhjälpen and at Notting Hill Arts Club in London, United Kingdom.

After the dissolution of her band Tremblebee, Tove Lo focused on writing songs and she signed a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music in 2011.

[2] Cragg also said the singer is "willing to share her drugs" with her lover in the verse "Jump off a cliff / I'd give you my last spliff / I'd do it for you / Ain't love sweet?".

Doron Davidson-Vidavski of The Line of Best Fit called it an "infectious debut single",[1] while a reviewer from Scandipop wrote that the song is "rousingly melodic in both its production and its topline".

In an interview with Gulf Times, Lo said she thought the song's poor commercial reception was due to her change of stage name.

[17] Lo also wrote the video's script;[17] she said: "Imagine sitting on a football field in the dark, freezing, after seven hours, covered only in black house paint, trying to put on fake eyelashes!".

[26] On 10 April 2013, she performed "Love Ballad", "Habits (Stay High)", "Out of Mind" and "Not Made For This World" at Swedish radio station P3.

[31] On 1 October 2014, Lo performed "Love Ballad" and other songs at Webster Hall in Manhattan, New York City.

[32] On 30 March 2015, she held a concert at KOKO in London, UK, and performed the track among others from Truth Serum and Queen of the Clouds.

[33] Amelia Maher of London In Stereo wrote, "With the opening bars to 'Over' and 'Love Ballad' there is something different in [Lo's] tone as she carelessly lays her soul bare for all to see and reveals that she isn't just a raunchy one trick pony".

[34] On 11 September 2015, she held a concert at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin, Germany, and performed "Love Ballad" and tracks from Truth Serum and Queen of the Clouds.