[3] The album was inspired by new-age music, with Stevens citing Enya and Boards of Canada as major influences, as well as the soundtracks for the films Blade Runner, Under the Skin, and Hereditary.

[1][4] Stevens explained that the album marks the retirement of his stepfather and business partner Lowell Brams, with whom he founded the label Asthmatic Kitty, saying that it "tells a bigger story of stewardship and mentorship.

[10] Writing for Exclaim!, Allie Gregory rated the album 7 out of 10 and judged that it "would be best suited to a movie score or soundtracking a meditation practice", as each "fuzzed-out song lends itself to a distinct '80s sci-fi aesthetic [that] always leans futuristic, compositionally just shy of dystopian".

Ultimately, she concluded that Aporia is an "ode to their [Stevens' and Brams'] decades-long father-son relationship and a fitting conclusion to their musically enriched partnership".

[11] In a review for Pitchfork, Peyton Thomas rated the album 6.8 out of 10 and called it "a collection of warm, improvisatory synth-wave epics" that are "intimate and unvarnished" and "double as a testament to the power of found family".