[8] Kevin Liedel of Slant Magazine evoked that "Desire Lines sees Camera Obscura straining harder for complexity; they maintain their famous sweetness while dialing back on some of the stronger melodies", but this leads to "their most balanced and monotonous effort to date, with such little distinction between its dozen sleep tracks that it makes ideal background music", which he called "sugary but tasteless syrup.

"[10] In addition, Clark called this "polished, luxurious pop", which contains "Campbell’s excellent vocal, [and this] makes for a consistently concise, effective and moving record."

Club, Annie Zaleski noted that the album "unlike previous Camera Obscura efforts, its songs aren’t as immediate or arresting" because it "has a few sleepy spots" that "causes it to drag on occasion.

"[4] Horowitz noted that "her slightly retro, girl group pop features often edgy lyrics that belie the music’s droolingly pretty, perky and persistent melodies.

"[14] Susannah Young of Under the Radar evoked that "typically, Tracyanne Campbell writes Camera Obscura's lyrics from an omniscient narrator's perspective, but even when she gets more personal, there's still a bit of a guarded tone at play.

[12] On the subject of production, Thomas called it "somewhat more clear than previous efforts, relying less on reverb and stuffing the frequency ranges with even more string sections, odd percussion, and pop accents than before.

[17] Fred Thomas of Allmusic told that the release contains a "similar feel of a band bounding out of the gates with a renewed creative energy" that he called "some of their best and most confident work to date.

"[15] Drowned in Sound's Jon Clark rated the album a nine-out-of-ten, and told that "this is pop music with a real soul to it, and Camera Obscura have bared it magnificently", which he vowed "this record is another perfect gem in their catalogue.

"[19] At This Is Fake DIY, Gareth Ware rated the album an 8-out-of-ten, and told that the release is "honed and constantly improved, yet retains an aura of warm contentment throughout.

Club's Annie Zaleski graded the album a B−, and affirmed that "Desire Lines is the rare record that sounds comfortable and familiar, but yet isn’t derivative.