.
Rounds contains ten instrumental tracks with a total running time of 45 minutes, which Colin Joyce of
Spin called a "
folktronica tapestry".
Sound on Sound writer Sam Inglis said that the album was a "blend of fragile acoustic fragments, brutal beats and glitchy electronica";
Guardian critic David Peschek, who noted the influence of hip hop,
R&B and
folk music, wrote that "
Rounds invents its own dizzying, unlikely genres."
Rolling Stone's Kory Grow describes the album as "
electronic dance music with a pulse and a heart murmur." John Bush of
AllMusic found the album contained elements of electronic and experimental music combined with "a dreamy melodicism sure to endear it to
indie pop fans."
Dusted critic Michael Crumsho noticed the influence of folk and jazz, writing that Hebden had "taken his earlier nods to other specific genres and turned them into something wholly his own."
PopMatters Adrien Begrand noted how "Hebden shifts the focus from hip-hop beats, jazz influences, and far-reaching sonic adventurousness, to a more spare, focused sound" that contributed to
Rounds original sound. Nick Southall, in his review for
Stylus Magazine, stated that "it is more of the same, but 'the same' for Four Tet is perpetual evolution and motion." "Unspoken" was named by several critics as the album's centrepiece Begrand described it as "virtuosic laptop music".
NME critic Tony Naylor thought that "As Serious as Your Life" was one of the album's more straightforward songs. The closing track, "Slow Jam", was described by Begrand as a "warm, wide-eyed, watching-the-sun-rise song" that features chiming guitars and a sample of a child's
squeaky toy. ==Release==