The album, which combines pop and electropop, and elements of hip hop and R&B, features guest vocal appearances by Travis Scott, Moses Sumney, Rosalía, and André 3000, as well as contributions from producer Metro Boomin.

[2][3][4][5] In May 2017, Blake revealed that he had already written new music such as "hip hop things" and "collaborative productions and beats" but added that he was unsure whether they would be stand-alone singles or projects.

[7] Blake was inspired to collaborate with Rosalía after hearing her debut record Los Ángeles, and stated that he "honestly hadn’t heard anything so vulnerable and raw and devastating in quite a while."

[7] Assume Form has been described as a pop and electropop with elements of hip hop and R&B,[9][10][11] and as significantly more upbeat than his previous records, numerous publications contrasting it with the "utterly downcast" The Colour in Anything.

[40] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian praised Blake for "adding fresh, noticeably brighter colours to his palette" and wrote that "it is immensely pleasing to witness an artist who seemed to be at a dead end now moving forward.

[44] Conversely, Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic wrote that though "as a headphones experience, Assume Form does deliver the expected shivers," he concluded that the album's main flaw was "in over-explaining his art".

[50] Stereogum's James Rettig commended the album's features and also praised its production, writing that though "Blake's songs occasionally bleed together, [...] here he avoids that by grounding each one in these unique twists of form.

"[51] Tom Connick of NME gave the album the site's first five-star rating of 2019, hailing Blake as "one of the world's greatest producers [...], a brilliant songwriter and emotive lyricist.

"[13] Helen Brown echoed these sentiments in her review for The Independent, writing that "his trademark intelligence, honesty and pin-drop production remain intact" and described the album as "a bubble of personal bliss in an ocean full of plastic.

"[15] Fred Thomas was more reserved in his assessment for AllMusic, stating that "In some ways it's hard not to miss that trademark ache and downcast minimalism" but added that the record "represents artistic development and a strike at emotional vulnerability from a talent who could have tread well-known territory indefinitely" and concluding that "the shifting perspectives of Assume Form are refreshing.

"[42] Andy Beta in a review for Spin deemed the album "Blake's most coherent statement to date" and wrote that "he doubles down on his melancholy, but also makes room for love.

"[16] Alex Suskind of Entertainment Weekly wrote in a positive review that "On his new album Assume Form, Blake abandons that piercing despair — though not his emotional vulnerability — by choosing romance over sorrow.