It contrasts with his previous album, Heaven and Hell, which was classically inspired and choral, while Albedo 0.39 has blues and jazz overtones.

[5] Its title is inspired by the idea of a planet's albedo, the proportion of the light it receives that is reflected back into space.

As well as synthesizers, other instruments include acoustic drums, bass, percussion, a xylophone, a gamelan (track 2), and recordings of the speaking clock and the Apollo Moon landing.

The title track, "Albedo 0.39" builds on waxing and waning synthesizer chords and arpeggios, while a voice, reputedly the album's engineer Keith Spencer-Allen, narrates various physical properties ascribed to the Earth according to popular current theories, such as its mass, length of the year in various measurements, and, finally, its albedo.

[3][9] Mike DeGagne of Allmusic described the tracks as "mesmerizing trips of assorted rhythms that include elements of jazz and mild rock", that along with "Albedo 0.39", "the two parts of "Nucleogenesis" are among the strongest cuts that keep his cosmic theme from deviating, while the livelier "Pulstar" involves some impressive instrumental range and electronic buoyancy".

He concluded that "the stretches of notes and rhythms don't become weary or monotonous at any point of the album", and that "intention of conjuring up the vastness and immensity of space is soundly accomplished".