Los Angeles–based arranger Paul Bryan conducted score for a small orchestra, with Nastasia and her manager Kennan Gudjonsson assembling string and woodwind quartets.

The album received generally positive reviews upon release, with multiple publications praising Nastasia's vocals and songwriting, as well as the quality of the orchestration and production.

[2] Paul Bryan, who arranged and conducted the orchestral and woodwind instrumentation, confirmed Gudjonsson as the "de facto" producer of the record.

He elaborated that "things got off to an alarmingly slow start, but we eventually fell into a groove; I would rehearse the strings while Nina, [drummer] Jay Bellerose and [guitarist] Jeff Parker would fool around with ideas.

[7] The Outlaster version of the latter song was first released almost a year prior to the album, when it appeared on the August 2009 edition of FatCat Records's annual sampler.

The film was directed by Theo Stanley, and consisted of an unedited panoramic shot of the song being performed live in Nastasia's Chelsea, Manhattan apartment.

[23] Beginning in Lisbon on October 1,[24] and continuing throughout Europe,[25][26] the tour was scheduled to travel through the United Kingdom and Ireland from November 29 to December 10,[27][28] with Sons of Noel and Adrian set to appear as the opening act.

[42] Several publications praised the quality of the orchestration, including NME, which said Outlaster featured the richest and most grandiose instrumentation of her career, and described it as one of her most accomplished works to date.

[37] Similarly, musicOMH said the orchestration was distinctive when compared with the rest of Nastasia's primarily sparse discography, and that the record was "impressive in artistry and accomplishment.

[44] Other writers commended the quality of Nastasia's vocals and songwriting, including The Line of Best Fit,[45] and Treblezine, which dubbed it the album of the week.

"[1] The North Coast Journal said her vocals and delivery had more of an impact on the songs than the orchestration, and compared Nastasia's lyricism to that of Leonard Cohen.

[47] BBC Music said Nastasia's "beautiful voice is at the heart of this, being easy to love and full of natural soul, but also handling every syllable with a quick-smart economy that teems with strength and authority."

"[33] Ben Ratliff of The New York Times praised the production, calling the album "ultra-suspenseful", elaborating: "The point of a Nina Nastasia record ... is that there's something threatening right over your shoulder: a sudden dynamic shift, a wail out of a whisper, drumming that trickles into a violent clatter.

[33] Drowned in Sound said it was her most elaborately produced album to date, to the extent that it suggested Nastasia may have "reached an expressive and creative peak."

Their writer made several other references to mental illness when elaborating on the album's lyrical content, saying that despite containing several beautiful songs, the record "stretches too far in either direction; trying to encompass both naïve optimism and full-on straightjacket crazy.

[38] Tiny Mix Tapes said Nastasia's work often explores the "darker shades of discontent", and hypothesized that Outlaster's lyrical content was an extended metaphor that could relate to the "perils of 'outings' undertaken by the emotionally fragile".

They described it as a courageous record, one that "underlines the point that human beings can persevere long enough to 'outlast' most crises", and called it a "complex and rewarding album, despite its flaws.