 Aplin said the album began "with the moment I made a definitive decision to start to unravel and rewire my brain", calling it "a past, present and future letter to myself".A press release described "Dear Happy" as an "uplifting pop record that chronicles Gabrielle's life, and the experiences and cultures she has been inspired by whilst touring and travelling the world over the past couple of years".Jessie Cunniffe of "The Sydney Morning Herald" awarded the album five stars out five and deemed it "an intricate portrait of the bruises and realisations of the aftermath of [any quarter-life crisis] phase".