Production for the album was handled by Salaam Remi, Element, The Smeezingtons, Fraser T. Smith, Paul Epworth, and Jack Splash.

The Lady Killer received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its production, classicist soul music approach, and Green's vocal performance.

[49] Entertainment Weekly's Leah Greenblatt commented that the album "both honors and tweaks the tropes of vintage songcraft with hefty doses of sweet Motown / Stax boogie, a smattering of Curtis Mayfield superfly, and imaginary theme songs for James Bond".

[52] Bill Friskics-Warren of The Washington Post wrote that it "offers some of the most ebullient pop this side of old-school hit-machines ranging from Holland–Dozier–Holland to Gamble and Huff".

[61] Slant Magazine's Huw Jones praised the album's accessibility and "buoyant nü-Motown and progressive soul", while noting Green's singing as "absolutely flawless.

[63] Jer Fairall of PopMatters found the album's premise inconsistent, writing that it "feels relatively safe [...] a thoroughly likeable little trifle of a record", but added that "As a throwback, it is indeed impeccable".

[64] Despite viewing it as less "gleefully unhinged" than his previous work, NME's Jason Draper cited it as Green's "most focused solo album".

[65] Nitsuh Abebe of New York called it "suitably theatrical—a lavishly orchestrated thing", and lauded Green's dramatist "lady-killer persona" and "artifice".

[66] Los Angeles Times writer Margaret Wappler noted "a glassy modernity that makes the album a sexy sonic adventure of loving and leaving" and commented that "it's not Green's caddish ways that charm.

[67] Despite writing that "he's not always lethal", Pitchfork's Joshua Klein commented that Green "manages to avoid being both too rough or too smooth", complimenting his "contemporary, confident conception of soul music" and the album's "de rigueur synthetic frills".

[56] Barry Walters of Spin noted its "detailed encapsulations of Saturday-night transcendence and Sunday-morning love pains" and its music "beautifully busy 21st-century Motown as greasy as it is vibrant".

[58] Amy Linden of The Village Voice called the album "romantic—chaste, even", writing that "[Green]'s written a manual on how to both break and mend someone's heart".

[54] Chicago Sun-Times writer Thomas Conner called it "an utter delight", writing that "every song rings fresh, modern, anthemic, packed with earth, wind and fire".