At
Metacritic, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications,
Serpent Music received an
average score of 77, based on 6 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Pitchfork critic Andy Beta wrote: "While it doesn’t always work, it’s Yves Tumor’s use of field recordings that gives
Serpent Music an ambulatory quality." Beta further explained: "At times, such a sense of wandering makes the tracks feel unresolved or interrupted, but at other times it gives the sensation of being lost in a strange urban landscape, alternating between endless gray blocks and brief glints of beauty." Angus Finlayson of
Resident Advisor described the record as Tumor's "most naked and tender music, made with lush guitars, frazzled drum loops and his own heavenly falsetto," while stating that "at first it seems harmless; only later do you realise what you've gotten into."
Tiny Mix Tapes's Rafael Lubner called the record "a study in disruption, in aggregated polarities" and remarked that "
Serpent Musics pieces are never reducible to the singular [sonic form], either formally or emotionally." Reviewing for The Quietus, Eden Tizard wrote: "Toying with emotional themes of isolationism, loss and spirituality as opposed to fixed religious views, the album manages to somehow balance direct emotion with the indefinable and opaque." The record was featured as number 13 on
Noisey magazine's list of "The 33 Best Albums of 2016." On the album,
Noisey critic Michelle Lhooq stated: "Like the artist himself,
Serpent Music is a slithering, complex work that unfurls over repeated encounters—but the effect is infinitely moving, like painting a dreamy landscape with hot streaks of raw emotion." ==Track listing==