 During development of "This Love", the band stated that the song was influenced by musician Stevie Wonder. The verses being written in the key of C harmonic minor and the chorus being written in the key of Eb Major, the beat is set in common time and moves at a moderate 95 beats per minute. The introduction of "This Love" features a piano-led strut. Maroon 5 has called "This Love" a prime pop-rock song. The music featured in the song has a lot more rock-guitar crunch, and is considered a soulful and pop / rock song. According to Johnny Loftus of Allmusic, the music featured in the song has "a slick channeling of vintage R & B rhythms into punchy pop dynamics". Loftus felt that the song features "Levine's wry falsetto around strutting, bottom-heavy piano and percussion both programmed and live; chirping backup vocals and washes of sunny synth and flute acted as counterweights". Loftus also noted that the band has a "sexual charge" with the lyrics, "I tried my best to feed her appetite / To keep her coming every night / So hard to keep her satisfied". The Boston Globe's Steve Morse described the single's sounds as "a rocking yet soulful tale about the breakup of a relationship". Meghan Bard of The Daily Campus adds that the song has "Stevie Wonder-esque vocals and a funky R & B beat". In the extended version of the song, which is 4 minutes and 26 seconds long, the chorus of the band's next single, "She Will Be Loved", can be heard from 3: 21 to 3: 42, during the outro.
