[1] A pop album that incorporates elements of dancehall, trap and R&B,[2] Meyer-Landrut reunited with previous collaborators Philip Böllhoff, Sipho Sililo, David Vogt and Hannes Büsche from production team Beatgees to work on the majority of material for Only Love, L, while additional production was provided by Beatzarre, Jr Blender, Djorkaeff, Jugglerz, and Pascal Reinhardt.

The album earned largely positive reviews from music critics who complimented on its international sound and its lyrical content.

[15][16] Philipp Kause from Laut.de found that the songs on Only Love, L "do not necessarily sound like a national, German production.

Lena Meyer-Landrut finds her (new) place in the R&B radius of AlunaGeorge or Iggy Azalea, and Afrobeats are also incorporated.

"[17] Musikexpress editor Jördis Hagemeier rated the album four of six stars and called Only Love, L a "pretentiously polished piece of pop from the Berlin producer collective Beatgees, which negotiates all sorts of deep themes between R&B and dancehall, Auto-Tune and trap moments: self-acceptance, crossing boundaries, honesty, remorse, strength, and even social criticism in the abstract.

"[2] Süddeutsche Zeitung critic Jens-Christian Rabe felt that Only Love, L was "undoubtedly [her] most musically ambitious record [...] It sounds like a very decent contemporary mainstream R&B record sounds like, a bit eclectic stumbled and blown away, but overall just as incredibly well-behaved as you would imagine a singer with big dreams from the pop province to be just imagine it that way.

"[18] Alina Hasky from Minutenmusik noted that with Only Love, L Meyer-Landrut "has taken a big step in her personal development.