[4] While IU's previous album, Chat-Shire, deliberated the confusion and anxieties of a twenty-three year old, Palette offers the perspective of someone at a more mature stage in life.

A body of work that tells the story of self-actualization, the album reads similarly to the final chapters of a bildungsroman where the main character embraces adulthood.

[7] For some of the photos, IU decided to have her in similar poses and shots were taken to that of her previous album Last Fantasy, to highlight the differences in maturity that have developed.

Billboard's Jeff Benjamin wrote, "Since her 2008 debut EP Lost and Found that was fully written and composed by hit producers, IU has been on a gradual mission to taking full artistic control of her music.

Plus, Palette is proving to be not only a creative accomplishment with it almost entirely written by the young star, but a body of work that reveals what's going on in her head and has rewarded her with new levels of success.

Billboard branded the album "the year's shining example of the power in personal K-pop with a release that employed loads of different sounds and stories to share insight about the star beneath the gorgeous gowns and pristine makeup", and furthermore praises IU for "showcas[ing] the moments of self-doubt, worry and gloom, and then explain[ing] them in the music styles and genres she sees most appropriate.