[8] In an interview with DIY on 12 December 2012, Little Boots revealed that she was putting the finishing touches to her second album, commenting, "I feel a lot more at peace about where I'm at creatively as an artist now than a year or so ago [...] I think everyone is always nervous releasing anything they've created into the world, but I've realized what I want to do and how I can achieve it, rather than trying to please other people."

[16][17] In January 2013, the song "Superstitious Heart" was released online and to record stores, performed by an artist named "LB" that media outlets recognised as Little Boots.

[27] The first 1,000 copies of the album were signed on CD or vinyl, which included a digital download and a limited edition Millionhands T-shirt.

"[33] The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan commented that Hesketh and Goldsworthy "keep the choruses and the fidgety effects coming through the closing 'Satellite', by which point it's inarguable that Nocturnes is one of the pop records of the year.

"[35] Drowned in Sound's Sean Thomas found the album to be "more stripped back than her 2009 debut and with far simpler production", adding that "the combination of [Goldsworthy's] minimal sensibilities and the experience Victoria Hesketh garnered from recent DJing stints has created an altogether more coherent record.

"[36] AllMusic editor Matt Collar praised Nocturnes as "a sultry, late-night, slow burn of an album that finds the British electronic diva building upon the anthemic dance-oriented sound of her 2009 debut Hands.

"[31] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine complimented the album's consistency, but felt that "Hesketh's shrewd choice of collaborators is often squandered on rather rudimentary song structures and lyrical ideas.

"[39] In a mixed review, Katherine St. Asaph of Pitchfork Media noted that "Nocturnes finds [Little Boots] settling on one that aspires to the distance of Saint Etienne's Sarah Cracknell or Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

"[41] Clash's Jack Scourfield expressed, "For the most part, [...] Nocturnes feels a bit tired—'Broken Record' [...] even apes her own past hit 'Stuck on Repeat' lyrics-wise.