Singer Guy Garvey told Under the Radar that the record had been influenced by the Beastie Boys, Sly and the Family Stone, Jimi Hendrix, Cream and the Meters.

Drummer Alex Reeves, who had asked to have more creative input on the record, started by creating drum patterns in his home studio along with keyboardist and producer Craig Potter, and sent them to the other band members to work on.

[12] In Uncut, John Lewis noted the "wonderful turns of phrase" and called the album "top stuff",[21] while James McNair of Mojo stated that "a panoply of touchstones informs Audio Vertigo, from Arctic Monkeys' recent spy-noir to Fela Kuti grooves to Smithsian indie ... ennobling imagination-overload songs about self-deception, toxic relationships, and a real-life knife fight Elbow's frontman saw in Istanbul", while "Garvey's allusive, playful lyrics are as golden as those of your Bermans and Caves here".

[19] In Classic Rock, Chris Roberts described the record as "wild, sweaty fun" with "influences from Marc Bolan to Tom Waits", but that "the energy and buoyancy never sacrifice Elbow's innate knack for emotional impact, as Garvey sings with poetic accuracy of the abyss, various hallelujahs and the meaning of love".

[15] Kathryn Reilly of The Arts Desk stated that "The entire album is dirtier and freer and, as ever, they seem to pull something extra out of the bag" and called the record "another triumph that deepens with every listen.

"[13] Mark Beaumont in The Independent was more critical, saying that the album preferred "to evoke the skittering polyrhythms, dank moods and spare melodies of early records such as 2001's Asleep in the Back ... but beyond 'Lovers Leap' and the buzz rock bits of 'Balu', 'The Picture', and 'Good Blood Mexico City', little else on Audio Vertigo slashes out of the speakers at you".

[18] NME's Andrew Trendell said that the album had an "impish spirit" and would be "the grit in the oyster of their catalogue", concluding that "this is a record to be enjoyed in its fullest form with all its hefty meat, mirrorball flashes and grizzly peaks".