Nicely had started fusing psychedelic and electronic music in the late 1970s, and in the early 1980s he released two singles, "DCT Dreams" and "Hilly Fields (1892)".

Helping to cement Nicely's status as a cult figure, the album received generally positive reviews from music critics, and its sound has been cited as a precursor to the emerging hypnagogic pop movement.

Growing up in Hitchin and Deptford, England, Nick Nicely developed an early fascination with intricate psychedelic music in the 1960s, from artists like Joe Meek, the Beatles, Pink Floyd and King Crimson.

[1] He moved to London and developed a solo career, and his 1978 home recordings attracted the attention of music publisher Heath Levy, who intended him to work as an in-house songwriter.

[2] It was distributed in Europe and South America and reached number two on the Dutch 'Tip sheet' chart, but made no impact in the United Kingdom, despite a 1981 re-release by German label Ariola Hansa.

He also refused to give EMI a single due to their lack of promotion for "Hilly Fields (1892)", although he also felt bad he had not delivered an album to the label and that he didn't perform live.

[3] In 1997, he once again began recording as Nick Nicely, with new tracks like "On the Beach" both reflecting his dance music productions as well as his early 1980s sound.

[9] During his time away from the public eye, Nicely's unusual blend of electronic pop and psychedelic rock had influenced contemporaries including Robyn Hitchcock of the Soft Boys and Andy Partridge of XTC,[1] while Robert Wyatt spoke highly of "49 Cigars".

[5] XTC's psychedelic side project band the Dukes of Stratosphear were especially inspired by Nicely,[5] with their debut album 25 O'Clock (1985) drawing strong influence from "Hilly Fields (1892)".

[9] Richie Unterberger said the album combines sounds of 1967-68 British psychedelic music with elements from post-1980 electronics and production, noting the influence of Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd and the Beatles' work of 1967, as well as a possibly equal influence from "all those obscure British acts that have filled up U.K. '60s psych rarities compilations from the time of Chocolate Soup for Diabetics onward".

[14] Nicely combines elements of those styles, including phasing, unusual electronic manipulation, the "melancholic buzzing orchestral waves" of keyboards, guitars and strings, vocals that have been cited as "underwater- and outer space-beamed" as well as brief, distant spoken phrases.

[14] Jim Irvin wrote that Psychotropia "feels like three decades of music – Beatles, Eno, Utopia, Buggles, MBV – flashing by in a spaceship, a delirious pop fans ecstatic narcotic rush".

"[18] The lyrical bent was described by Richard Mason of Ugly Things as possessing a "deeply personal and impressionistic nature," while he felt that wistful melodies and psychedelic modalities were among the album's key characteristics.

"[9] Among those reviewing the CD, Matthjis Linneman of Oor highly recommended the album and wrote that, despite Nicely's career ending with commercial failure in 1982, Psychotropia "proves that his song writing abilities have remained constant over the years" while away from the public eye, citing for instance "On the Beach (The Ladder Descends)", which he felt "approaches the quality of 'Hilly Fields'".

[18] Jim Irvin of Mojo said the album "feels like three decades of music – Beatles, Eno, Utopia, Buggles, MBV – flashing by in a spaceship, a delirious pop fans ecstatic narcotic rush.

While finding the weaker songs to "sound like Soft Cell outtakes or Erasure on ketamine", they felt the best material "belongs with the pantheon of great post-psychedelica", alongside Prince's Around the World in a Day (1985).

[16] Richie Unterberger of AllMusic felt "there's also an overall air of clouded disengagement and retreat into an impenetrable imaginary world, which makes his work less gripping than that of the best astral minstrels of yore.

[19] In gathering Nicely's material in an anthology style, Psychotropia helped make it easier to listen to his body of work,[1] and since the album's release, his reputation has grown.

[4] Amorphous Androgynous included "49 Cigars" on their critically acclaimed various artists compilation A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Exploding in Your Mind: Volume 1 (2008).