[2] In an interview with KROQ-FM, Incubus's guitarist Mike Einziger revealed that "Absolution Calling" was an improvised song that was created while the band's lead singer, Brandon Boyd, was overseas.

[4] Rolling Stone described the song's sound as having "spaced out ambiance" that is "undercut with gnarled guitars and Brandon Boyd’s ragged vocals.

[7] In a behind-the-scenes interview with Incubus by iHeartRadio, Boyd said the idea for the music video came when their bass guitarist Ben Kenney suggested having a story similar to Quadrophenia.

The director for "Absolution Calling" expanded Boyd's interpretation by saying the music video also had elements of West Side Story and The Lost Boys.

[12] Similarly, PPCorn believed that Boyd's vocals were strengthened by the "powerful questions and references being asked" in the lyrics of "Absolution Calling".