Nurture released to general critical acclaim, entering popular charts in several regions, including at number 1 on the Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums in the United States.

Porter Robinson experienced an initial surge of popularity at age 18,[2] after the release of several festival-oriented electronic dance music works such as "Say My Name" (2010) and Spitfire (2011).

[4] As a result of the album's positive reception, Robinson had set high expectations for himself,[5] saying in 2018 that he felt he was "under a lot of pressure to do something akin to a follow-up".

[17] However, PopMatters's Chris Conaton wrote that songs such as "Look at the Sky" often harmonize his voice with a heavily processed version,[19] which is autotuned and increased in pitch to sound more feminine.

Robinson stated that he followed an approach of "no supersaws, no 808 subs, [and] no classic breakbeats" for most of the songs on the album,[23] which Pappis ascribed to his resolve to avoid the "strictures of dance music".

[17] MusicOMH's Ben Devlin felt that the album is more similar to pop and indie styles, while still retaining some heavier electronic elements.

[20] Critics also discussed the album's diverse instrumentation,[9][20] with NME's Ben Jolley highlighting Robinson's use of the piano, which he felt was "pivotal in his recovery [from depression]".

[25] Walker noted that Robinson's work is heavily influenced by J-pop and Japanese culture,[17] and "Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do", according to Simpson, contains elements from the Shibuya-kei genre.

[26] Additionally, Robinson has said that his contemporary Madeon is a major inspiration for his work,[27] and cited the album Good Faith (2019) as a key influence for Nurture.

Simpson wrote that "Mirror" and "Something Comforting" both address Robinson's self-critical inner voice, while "Musician" focuses on overcoming the burnout that was preventing him from writing music.

[9] Lyons-Burt felt that "Look at the Sky" has a "sense of disillusionment",[23] but Pitchfork's Colin Joyce noted that it also looks ahead to a brighter future, calling it a "ballad of hard-won optimism".

[21] According to Simpson, Robinson expresses the futility of striving for a "finish line", and instead learning to find fulfillment in simply living and creating music.

[25] However, multiple critics noted the juxtaposition of artificial and natural elements in the album, such as the clean and processed versions of Robinson's voice,[7][19] and the usage of synthesizers along with the acoustic instruments.

[9] Joyce especially highlighted the thematic differences with the music video of "Shelter", which features a simulation that is created to escape a dystopic reality.

[47] Reviewers praised Nurture's composition, with Conaton highlighting Robinson's "knack for melody",[19] and Devlin noting that the songwriting is "cutesy but massively endearing".

[2] Pappis considers "Blossom" to be the album's "most heartfelt moment", effectively condensing Robinson's love and the "simple transcendence" of his realization to appreciate everyday life.

[21] Paskin wrote that Robinson was able to produce Nurture by "freeing himself of the pressure to recapture the success of Worlds", and felt that the album is a worthy sophomore work due to its distinct identity.

[20] While Paskin showed a regard for Robinson's experimentation on "Dullscythe", citing his "[virtuosic] production skills", Pappis felt that songs like "Mother" and "Sweet Time" are among the "weakest cuts" from the album, and are sonically unable to match the emotional intensity of the lyrics.

[25] Walker wrote that the length of the album obscured some of the highlights, and added that even "Unfold" felt "somewhat anticlimactic thirteen tracks deep".